The State government on Monday conceded before the Madras High Court that the State-Level High-Power Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, headed by the Chief Minister, for reviewing implementation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, did not meet even once between June 25, 2013, and September 8 this year.
In a counter affidavit filed before Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha, Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Secretary Otem Dai said the meetings could not be held due to “administrative reasons”.
The judges, however, pointed out that it was mandatory for the committee to meet at least twice a year, as per statutory rules framed under the Act.
They directed the government to comply with the rules, in letter and in spirit, at least in the future and make sure that the meetings were held every January and July. The direction was…