Attorney General KK Venugopal seeks larger Bench for review of SC/ST Judgment

The Central government today prayed that the review petition against the judgment on SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Act be placed before a larger Bench of the Supreme Court..Arguing before the Bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit, Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal said that the Supreme Court had overstepped its jurisdiction by passing the judgement on a subject which fell within the legislative domain..Referring to the mandate laid down in the challenged judgemen which requires prior sanction of appointing authority before prosecuting officers for acts done in their official capacity, Venugopal said,.“Sanctions to be granted or not, is a legislative matter; it is not for the Courts to decide. Empowering civil servants to allow arrests to be made is a legislative matter.”.However, Justice Goel, clarifying the rationale of the judgement, said that sanction and preliminary probe was only required when the complaint filed by the victim appeared to be prima facie questionable..To further strengthen his case, AG cited statistics from previous years stating that only 15 per cent of cases on crimes against SCs and STs, were found to be false. However, Justice Goel rebutted this point saying that,.“15 per cent found to be false does not mean other 85 per cent were all true. It means that they were either not false or still undecided.” .Venugopal also raised the point of anticipatory bail to which Justice Lalit also stressed on the prima facie nature of the complaint. He said,.“What does the legislation seek to achieve when it says ‘no anticipatory bail’? Don’t resort to making arrests so easily.”.Venugopal, concluding his submissions, said that Courts cannot lay down law inconsistent with the statute and the judgement is in direct contradiction with Section 18 of the Act..“Courts are empowered to fill the gaps in the legislature but cannot lay down laws.”.Venugopal prayed for a stay on the judgement stating that the Court had superseded its authority. He also requested that the matter be heard by a larger Bench. The Court, however, refused to impose a stay. It also did not pass any order on the request for larger Bench..The matter will be heard next on May 16 when the Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is expected to make his submissions.