Section 144 to be imposed in Gwalior tomorrow to avoid untoward incident in view of last year's protests over SC/ST Protection Act

Gwalior: Section 144 will be imposed on 3 April between 6 am and 12 am in Gwalior to prevent any unpleasant incident, the administration informed on Monday. Section 144 prohibits assembly of more than 4 people in an area. Seven people had died in the violence during the protests over the SC/ST Protection Act in 2018 on this date. [caption id=“attachment_5191611” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Madhya Pradesh Police. Reuters[/caption] On 20 March 2018, the apex court had passed a judgement that there will be no automatic arrest on a complaint filed under the Act. It had also introduced anticipatory bail provision under the Act. However, the Centre had made amendments in the Act to overcome the top court’s order diluting the provision of arrest under the law. The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had passed a slew of directions and said a public servant could be arrested in cases lodged under the SC/ST Act only after prior approval by the competent authority. The amendments provided that no preliminary inquiry would be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval.