Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has lashed out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for not appealing for peace in the country at the time of Bharat Bandh, which was carried out because of Supreme Court’s order to dilute the SC/ST Act. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was amended by the Supreme Court lately to include new crimes and guarantee a speedy justice to the victims. The revised law came into effect from January 26, 2016. The top court had recently banned the automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The law protects the SC/ST communities from atrocities and discrimination.
