Plea against SC/ST Amendment Act, 2018 this time in Uttarakhand HC [Read Petition]

Echoing concerns raised by similar pleas filed in the Supreme Court, an Advocate has filed a writ petition before the Uttarakhand High Court challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 Amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (‘SC/ST Act’), 1989..The said amendment effectively undid the effect of a controversial Supreme Court judgment rendered last March, which drew criticism for diluting the SC/ST Act..By the said judgment, a Bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit had ruled that prior sanction is necessary before making arrests for offences under the SC/ST Act. A review petition was filed soon after by the Central Government, challenging the ruling as having been delivered without appreciating facts and settled principles of law. .While this review petition is pending, the Central Government passed an amendment earlier this month, effectively undoing the effect of the controversial judgement. By this amendment, a new provision, Section 18A was inserted into the SC/ST Act, which essentially reinstated the law as it stood prior to the Supreme Court’s March ruling..Therefore, as the law stands, no prior sanction is required before proceeding against those accused of an offence under the SC/ST Act. Further, such accused persons are also excluded from availing anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)..In this backdrop, Advocate Sanpreet Singh Ajmani has now filed a petition before the Uttarakhand High Court, posing the following question,.“In view of above, the matter requires kind indulgence of this Hon’ble Court and in as much as the core question of general public importance at large is involved in this petition, viz. ‘whether the impugned amendment is arbitrary and tantamount to annul and nullify the Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court?’“.Apart from challenging the Constitutionality of the Amendment, Ajmani has pointed out precedent, which dictates that the legislature cannot directly annul a judgment of a court. Reference in this regard is made to the 2015 case of ST Sadiq v State of Kerala..In light of his submissions, Ajmani has prayed that provisions inserted into the main Act by the 2018 SC/ST Amendment Act be declared as ultra vires Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution..Read the writ petition: