Members of various right-wing groups on Tuesday protested in the heart of the capital against the Narendra Modi government’s approval of an amendment more than two months ago to undo the Supreme Court’s “dilution” of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Around 40 protesters, owing allegiance to Kshtriya Samanway Pratinidhi Mahasabha and Rashtriya Hind Sena, among others, trooped to Albert Ekka Chowk on Mahatma Gandhi Road and demonstrated for an hour from 11am.

Traffic on the arterial Main Road slowed down because of the agitation, but wasn’t largely affected. The protesters were taken into preventive custody before the situation could aggravate further.

In a ruling on March 20, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court had cited instances of abuse of the Act and laid down guidelines for arrests “to avoid false implications”.

The court had said that a preliminary inquiry may be conducted by a DSP to ensure allegations are not “frivolous or motivated” before a case is registered. It added that a public servant, if accused, could be arrested with the permission of the appointing authority. Others can be arrested only after permission is granted by the SSP who will have to record in writing the reason for granting permission and hand it to the court concerned.

On August 1, the Union Cabinet approved an amendment to the Act to undo the “dilution”. The action came in the wake of protests by Dalit and Adivasi outfits.

On Tuesday, protesters in the city said the Modi administration had ignored interests of the “forward community” by reversing an apex court directive.

“This move will boost the morale of those who misuse the law to implicate members of the forward community,” said Babban Choubey, a member of the Mahasabha.

Sanjay Singh of Rashtriya Hind Sena echoed him. “By restoring old provisions of the Act, the Union government has proved that it is selective in implementing even a Supreme Court order. It is a baniya (read opportunist) government at the Centre, run by Modi and (Amit) Shah, and it is a baniya government in Jharkhand run by Raghubar Das,” Singh said.

Kotwali thana OC S.N. Mandal said the right-wing groups had initially called a bandh on the issue.

“But, when they found the response was tepid, they decided to disrupt traffic on Main Road. They were not successful though. We arrested 40 protesters to ensure commuters are not inconvenienced,” the officer said, adding that the men were released on personal bond in the evening.