New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the order of Gujarat High Court, in which the two accused lodged under various provisions of IPC and Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were accused of giving anticipatory bail. Acting on a petition on the orders of the High Court on March 22, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud issued notice to the accused and the Gujarat government.
The Senior advocate Dushyant Dave present for Arjun Sankar Bhai Rathod said that the petitioner was an tribal and the accused builders used the powers of the attorney and took an tribal land from them. The High Court, he said, relied on the recent Supreme Court decision and granted bail to the accused.
In the order of March 20, a bench of the Supreme Court notices the examples of misuse of the Act by “vested interests” and added the provisions of the foregoing bail under security seizure, if in cases under the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes Act No prima facie was made. Dave said that Section 18 of the SC / ST Act “has been completely rewritten “, which gives anticipatory bail to people who commit crimes under the Act.
