Supreme Court declines to stay its order on SC/ST Act

New Delhi, Apr 03: The Supreme Court has declined to stay its order on a law on Tuesday, which Dalits said diluted some of the provisions meant to protect them, and asked all sides to submit detailed replies within two days.A bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, however, said compensation can be paid to victims under the Schedules Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, even without an FIR being registered.The bench said this on a plea by the Centre seeking a recall of its March 20 order where the apex court had said that no arrest would be affected on a complaint under the Act without an inquiry.Violence erupted on Monday as protesters clashed with police, attacked buses and government property, and blockaded trains and roads across the country, including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar.The maximum deaths were reported in Madhya Pradesh, with the police saying three people were killed in Gwalior, two in Bhind and one in Morena.The protests also claimed two lives in Uttar Pradesh - one in Muzaffarnagar and another in Meerut. One person was killed in Rajasthan/s Alwar as the police opened fire to disperse a mob.