Supreme Court ends caste-based discrimination in prisons, orders immediate reforms

New Delhi, Oct 03: The Supreme Court of India has struck down provisions in state prison manuals that enable caste-based discrimination, stating that assigning menial and degrading tasks to prisoners based on their caste violates constitutional protections under Article 15, Bar and Bench reported.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, emphasised that such practices, even if implied, cannot be tolerated under the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, in its ruling, declared, “Assigning cleaning and sweeping to marginalised groups and assigning cooking to higher castes is nothing but a violation of Article 15. Such indirect uses of phrases which target so-called lower castes cannot be used within our constitutional framework, even if caste is not explicitly mentioned.”

The Court also emphasised the importance of dignity, stating, “Not providing dignity to prisoners is a relic of the colonial period where they were dehumanised. The Constitution mandates that prisoners have to be treated humanely, and the prison system must be aware of the mental and physical state of prisoners,” as reported by Bar and Bench.

The Court made it clear that prisoners from oppressed castes cannot be forced into degrading work simply because of their marginalised status. It also ordered the removal of caste references from prison registrars and directed all states to amend their prison rules to eliminate such discriminatory provisions. Any failure to comply will result in accountability for the states.

The Bench also took note of discriminatory provisions in the prison manual of Uttar Pradesh, which linked menial labour assignments to prisoners’ caste backgrounds. The Court strongly criticised such provisions, stating that no caste or tribe should be classified as a "scavenger class" or subjected to caste-based labour divisions. Furthermore, the Court declared that no prisoner should be assigned hazardous tasks such as cleaning sewer tanks, which are often relegated to marginalised communities.

In its ruling, the Court addressed the issue of discrimination against denotified tribes, who are often unfairly categorised as habitual offenders in prison systems. It asserted that such prejudice perpetuates stereotypes and violates the principles of equality and dignity enshrined in the Constitution.

The judgment arose from a petition filed by journalist Sukanya Shantha, who had highlighted the prevalence of caste-based discrimination in prisons. The petition called for the repeal of discriminatory provisions found in the prison manuals of various states, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh, among others.

The Court issued notices to the Union government and 11 states in January and sought assistance from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in addressing the issue.