At least nine people were killed, thousands were detained by the police and hundreds were left injured as the central and state governments struggled to control the nationwide shutdown protests that spread across the north, west and east India over the Supreme Court’s alleged 'dilution' of the SC/ST Act on Monday. According to reports, six people were killed in cross-firing in Madhya Pradesh alone, two died in Uttar Pradesh and one in Rajasthan. Curfew was imposed in several places and mobile services were blocked. The Apex Court on March 20 banned arrests and registration of criminal cases under the ST/SC Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, a legislation meant to protect the marginalised communities from abuse and discrimination. A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit ruled that no arrests can be made under the Act without prior permission and had ruled that a court can grant an anticipatory bail if finds the complaint is an abuse of the law, false, motivated and intended to blackmail or harass a person.
