The Supreme Court on Thursday ended the longstanding practice of caste-based discrimination in prisons, declaring provisions in prison manuals that perpetuate it as unconstitutional and calling for immediate reforms across states.
The verdict delivered by a Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud-led bench specifically addressed the entrenched discriminatory practices against marginalised communities, including scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), and de-notified tribes in prisons.
Issuing a series of directives to the Union government and states to ensure that no inmate is subjected to work assignments or housing arrangements based on their caste, the bench noted: “Discrimination based on caste, both direct and indirect, is a relic of colonial rule. The Constitution mandates that prisoners be treated humanely, with due regard for their mental and physical well-being.”
The bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, ordered all states where such discrimination continues to immediately amend their rules to eradicate these deep-seated vices and file their compliance report within three months. The Union government was ordered to bring about suitable changes to the model prison rules of 2016 that may promote caste-based discrimination by allowing states to categorise people as “habitual offenders”.
It held that such discriminatory practices violate the principles of equality enshrined in the Constitution and demanded that prison authorities bring their regulations in line with constitutional mandates.
The court held that caste-based assignments of labour, such as assigning menial tasks like cleaning and sweeping to marginalised castes while reserving cooking for higher castes, is a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of caste. It added that these practices fail to meet the test of intelligible differentia and do not contribute to the reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners.
“Prison manuals must not perpetuate caste-based prejudice by assigning degrading tasks to certain groups… No group is born as a scavenger class, nor should any group be restricted to such work,” said the court.
The court invoked Article 17, which abolished untouchability, asserting that assigning menial labour based on caste is a form of untouchability that cannot be permitted in a constitutional democracy.
The judgment highlighted how prison manuals, including the 2016 Central Government’s Prison Manual, contain provisions that reaffirm caste-based discrimination. CJI Chandrachud condemned practices where marginalised prisoners were forced to clean sewers and tanks in hazardous conditions, calling it a clear violation of human dignity.
The court struck down provisions in the Uttar Pradesh Prison Manual that allowed prisoners of certain castes to be assigned menial work, noting that such practices reinforce class-based prejudices.
“The use of terms like ‘menial’ to target so-called lower castes cannot survive under our constitutional framework…These practices not only degrade human dignity but also violate Article 23, which prohibits forced labour,” it said.
The court criticised the classification of habitual offenders, particularly the targeting of de-notified tribes as members of criminal groups. It declared such classifications unconstitutional and ordered all states to remove references to habitual offenders in their prison manuals, stressing that such labels are rooted in colonial stereotypes.
“Members of denotified tribes have historically been treated as criminals from birth. This classification is an affront to their dignity and a gross violation of Article 21, which guarantees the right to life with dignity,” CJI Chandrachud said.
The Supreme Court directed all states to revise their prison manuals in line with the judgment. It also ordered that references to caste in convict or undertrial registers be deleted and that prisoners should not be assigned tasks like sewer cleaning in hazardous conditions.
Taking suo motu cognizance of the issue of discrimination in prisons, the court has scheduled a compliance hearing in three months, requiring states to submit a status report on the implementation of its orders.
Issuing notices to the Union home ministry and other relevant parties in January, the court requested solicitor general Tushar Mehta to assist with the issues raised by the petitioner, Sukanya Shantha, a journalist and a resident of Maharashtra.
The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, sought to draw attention to the persistence of discriminatory rules in prison manuals that reinforce caste hierarchies, in direct violation of constitutional principles of equality. The petitioner urged the court to issue clear directions to ensure that all prison manuals and practices are overhauled to eliminate any form of caste-based discrimination.
