SC/ST act row: Supreme court considers Centre's plea

Police personnel lathicharge on an activist during the bandh called by Dalit organisations, in Varanasi, on Monday. Pic/PTI

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will consider in detail the Centre's review petition against its judgment on the SC/ST Act but declined to keep in abeyance the directions passed by it to deal with the issues of arrest and sanction under the special law.

The apex court said people who are agitating may not have read the judgment properly and must have been misled by people with vested interests. Several states were rocked by violence on Monday following a Bharat Bandh call given by several SC/ST organisations protesting the top court's order.

"We have not diluted any provision of SC/ST Act but only safeguarded the interests of the innocents from being arrested," a bench comprising Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit asserted. During an hour-long hearing, the court said the provisions of the Act could not be used to terrorise the innocents.