Ropar sarpanch’s arrest under SC/ST Act triggers political row

Basowal village sarpanch Davinder Kumar, who was booked and arrested by the local police under the SC/ST Act, was produced in the court today, which remanded him into police custody for a day.

The arrest had stirred a political slugfest with hundreds of Congress workers staging a protest outside the Anandpur Sahib police station against the registration of the case and blocking the Anandpur Sahib-Ropar road.

The blockade was lifted after the DSP assured protesters that he would visit the village to look into allegations against the sarpanch.

The protesters alleged that the sarpanch was being falsely implicated in the case under political pressure.

Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Assembly speaker KP Rana, while talking to The Tribune referred to a recent Supreme Court ruling that calls for prior verification of allegations before registering a case under the SC/ST Act to prevent misuse. “In this instance, the police filed the FIR without any verification, which clearly indicates political interference,” Rana claimed.

Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, who represents the Anandpur Assembly constituency, meanwhile, took to the social media and flayed the protesters. He said a Dalit person was initially beaten up in the village and later humiliated at the police station.

“Some political parties were resorting to low-level politics in the case. The law will take its course in the case,” he said.

When contacted, Ropar SSP Gulneet Singh Khurana maintained that the case against the sarpanch was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the SC/ST Act following a complaint that described a cognisable offence.

There is no legal requirement that a preliminary inquiry must precede registration of a case under the SC/ST Act, the SSP added.