No arrests without investigation under SC/ST Act in Madhya Pradesh: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said that no arrests will be made in the state without investigation under SC/ST Act.

Chouhan's remark came after several people held protests in different parts of the state against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill 2018 which was passed by Parliament in August.

Attacking Congress, Chouhan said that the party had leveled various baseless and false allegations at him.

"The misuse of the (amended) SC/ST Act will not be allowed in MP. Only after a thorough probe, a case will be registered under it. To this end, a directive will be issued shortly," Chouhan on Thursday told reporters.

A nationwide bandh called on September 6 by some upper caste groups against the restoration of some of the provisions of the SC/ST Act had met with a good response in poll-bound MP.

On Thursday, Bramha Samagam Sawarna Jankalyan Samaj convener Prahlad Shukla said protesters took out a rally from Ganesh Mandir near Habibganj Railway Station, on their way to CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's residence, but the police stopped them midway.

The Supreme Court, on March 20 this year, had placed safeguards on the provisions for immediate arrest under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The amendment bill, however, restored some stringent provisions of the SC/ST Act.