Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP-RSS on reservation, says ‘they don’t want welfare of weaker section’
New Delhi: Following Supreme Court upholding the 2018 amendments to the SC/ST Act, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday (February 10) said that the BJP and RSS’s ideology is against reservations and that they want to do away with it. Speaking to reports, the Wayanad MP also claimed that BJP and RSS do not SC/STs category to progress.
“They’re breaking the institutional structure. I want to tell SCs/STs/OBCs and Dalits that we’ll never let reservations come to an end no matter how much Modi Ji or Mohan Bhagwat dream of it,”
Earlier in the day, Supreme Court, while hearing pleas challenging the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (SCs/ STs) (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018, ruled out out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs. The Act was enacted to nullify the effects of the March 20, 2018 judgment of the top court that had diluted the provisions of the Act.
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said a preliminary inquiry is not essential before lodging an FIR under the act and the approval of senior police officials is not needed. Justice Ravindra Bhat, the other member of the bench, said in a concurring verdict that every citizen needs to treat fellow citizens equally and foster the concept of fraternity.
Justice Bhat said a court can quash the FIR if a prima facie case is not made out under the SC/ST Act and the liberal use of anticipatory bail will defeat the intention of Parliament.
The top court’s verdict came on a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the SC/ST Amendment Act of 2018, which was brought to nullify the effect of the apex court’s 2018 ruling, which had diluted the provisions of the stringent Act.
