Allahabad High Court asks U.P. government to regulate caste glorification, remove caste references from FIRs, public records

In a strongly worded order, Allahabad Excessive Court docket, earlier this week, ordered the Uttar Pradesh Authorities to control the caste glorification and prohibit the caste disclosure in FIRs, public data, signal boards in cities and villages and so forth.

The Bench of Justice Vinod Diwaker, in its order of September 16, additionally requested the Authorities to curb caste emblems and slogans in public in addition to non-public autos and regulate caste glorification content material on social media.

Stating that the legislation makers should be certain that they work to advertise inter-caste establishments and neighborhood centres as an alternative of unique caste primarily based establishments, the court docket identified that to attenuate caste discrimination, the federal government must have sustained programmes alongside legal guidelines. It recommended that faculty curriculum modules ought to train kids about equality, dignity, and the risks of caste prejudice. It additionally recommended to have community-level initiatives, necessary coaching for public officers, academics, and workers on caste sensitivity.

Quoting a phrase from one of many speeches delivered by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Court docket famous that caste is anti-national.

“In India, there are castes. The castes are anti-national. Within the first place, they carry about separation in social life. They’re anti-national additionally as a result of they generate jealousy and antipathy between caste and caste…..” the Court docket quoted Dr. Ambedkar and added that if India has to develop into a very developed nation by 2047, it’s crucial that deeply entrenched caste system is eradicated from the society.

The observations had been made throughout of an utility below Part 482 CrPC, during which it famous that the castes of the accused individuals had been talked about within the FIR and different associated paperwork.

The Court docket got here down closely on the police and mentioned that the investigative impartiality and enforcement neutrality have to be consciously cultivated, particularly in a society the place caste is pervasive.

“Writing or declaring the caste of an accused- with out authorized relevance quantities to id profiling, not goal investigation. It reinforces prejudice, corrupts public opinion, contaminates judicial pondering, violates basic rights, and undermines constitutional morality,” it added.

Terming the DGP UP as ‘an ivory-tower policeman, indifferent from constitutional morality, and finally retired merely as a bureaucrat in uniform. ‘, the court docket mentioned that it isn’t not impressed with the justification supplied by the senior most police official; of the state on naming individual’s caste in FIR.

“Within the Court docket’s view, the DGP, coming from a third-world background, seems to have little publicity to the complicated realities of Indian society and the calls for {of professional} policing,” it mentioned.