Rising KashmirRising KashmirRising Kashmir
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • Kashmir
    • City
    • Jammu
    • Politics
  • Health
  • Anchor
  • Features
  • Interview
  • Video
Search

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022

Categories

  • Anchor
  • Breaking
  • Business
  • City
  • Developing Story
  • Editorial
  • Education
  • Features
  • Health
  • Interview
  • Jammu
  • Jammu and Kashmir News
  • Kashmir
  • Kashmir Tourism
  • Kath Bath
  • National
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Top Stories
  • Trending
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • Viewpoint
  • World
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Supreme Court scraps caste based discrimination in prisons, terms it unconstitutional
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Rising KashmirRising Kashmir
Font ResizerAa
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • News
  • Health
  • Anchor
  • Features
  • Interview
  • Video
Search
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • Kashmir
    • City
    • Jammu
    • Politics
  • Health
  • Anchor
  • Features
  • Interview
  • Video
Follow US
© 2024. All Rights Reserved.
Rising Kashmir > Blog > Breaking > Supreme Court scraps caste based discrimination in prisons, terms it unconstitutional
Breaking

Supreme Court scraps caste based discrimination in prisons, terms it unconstitutional

ANI
Last updated: October 3, 2024 5:21 pm
ANI
Published: October 3, 2024
Share
7 Min Read
SHARE

The Supreme Court, in a pathbreaking judgement on Thursday, put an end to caste-based discrimination in prisons, calling it unconstitutional, and directed the Centre to make changes in jail manuals that perpetuate such practices.

The top court directed that the “caste” column and any references to caste in undertrial and/or convicts’ prisoners’ registers inside the prisons shall be deleted.

A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said that the manual, which discriminates against prison by assigning cleaning and sweeping tasks to lower castes and cooking to higher castes, is in violation of Article 15.

The Supreme Court said such practices lead to unfair division of labour in the prisons and type of labour assignment based on caste, etc cannot be permitted.

Henceforth, the top court directed the Union government to make necessary changes, as highlighted in its judgement, to address caste-based discrimination in the Model Prison Manual 2016 and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act 2023 within a period of three months.

“We need an institutional approach where people from marginalised communities could share their pain and anguish about their future collectively. We need to reflect and do away with institutional practices that discriminate against citizens from marginalised communities or treat them without empathy. We need to identify systemic discrimination in all spaces by observing patterns of exclusion. After all, the “bounds of caste are made of steel”–“Sometimes invisible but almost always inextricable.” But not so strong that they cannot be broken with the power of the Constitution,” the top court said.

The court also directed the Union government to circulate a copy of this judgement to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union territories within a period of three weeks from the date of delivery of this judgement.

The top court also issued many other directions. One among them was declaring references to habitual offenders in manuals as unconstitutional.

“References to “habitual offenders” in the prison manuals/Model Prison Manual shall be in accordance with the definition provided in the habitual offender legislation enacted by the respective state legislatures, subject to any constitutional challenge against such legislation in the future. All other references or definitions of “habitual offenders” in the impugned prison manuals/rules are declared unconstitutional. In case, there is no habitual offender legislation in the The state, the union, and the state governments are directed to make necessary changes in the manuals/rules in line with this judgement within a period of three months,” the top court said.

“The impugned provisions are declared unconstitutional for being violative of Articles 14, 15, 17, 21, and 23 of the Constitution. All States and Union Territories are directed to revise their prison manuals and rules in accordance with this judgement within a period of three months,” the order copy said.

The Court also took suo motu cognisance of the discrimination inside prisons on any ground such as caste, gender, or disability, and shall list the case from now onwards as In Re: Discrimination Inside Prisons in India. The top court directed the Registry to list the case after a period of three months before an appropriate Bench. The top court asked all states and the Union government to file a compliance report on this judgement.

The DLSAs and the Board of Visitors formed under the Model Prison Manual 2016 shall jointly conduct regular inspections to identify whether caste-based discrimination or similar discriminatory practices exist, the top court said.

The court asked the DLSAs and the Board of Visitors to submit a joint report of their inspection to the SLSAs, which shall compile a common report and forward it to NALSA. The top court asked NALSA to file a joint status report before the top court.

“What does the future hold for India? Dr Ambedkar had expressed this concern in his last address to the Constituent Assembly. The concern holds true even today. More than 75 years since independence, we have not been able to eradicate the evil of caste discrimination. We need to have a national vision for justice and equality,” the order copy read.

The top court also directed the police to follow the guidelines to ensure that members of denotified tribes are not subjected to arbitrary arrest.

Moreover, the top court also appreciated the petitioner and lawyer for assisting and highlighting the instance of institutional systemic discrimination.

The petition was filed by a journalist, Sukanya Shantha, who had told the bench that there are cases where Dalits are in separate prisons and some other caste is in a different area.

The plea filed through advocate Prasanna S sought to challenge the various discriminatory provisions of the Prison Manuals and Rules for being ultra vires to Article 14, 15, 17, and 23 of the Constitution of India. It sought issuance of specific guidelines or directions in respect of caste – based division of labour in the various State prison manuals.

It sought direction to bring the prison manuals and rules administered by them to repeal all provisions that either segregate or discriminate prisoners or the work assigned to them on the basis of caste, belonging to denotified tribes or them being ‘habitual offenders’ and bring such manuals and Rules in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution of India.

“Direct all the Respondents to undertake strong action to prevent the persistence of forced caste-based labour and segregation in prisons,” the plea sought.

It further sought direction for states to take steps to ensure proactive disclosure of prison manuals, through greater digitisation of the state prison manual on the website of respective home departments and to undertake regular printing of prison manuals to be readily available. (ANI)

Massive fire breaks out at Industrial Estate in Sopore
30-hour water supply disruption in Srinagar on Feb 22 for repair work
G-20: JKEDI starts training for aspiring entrepreneurs of district Ramban under SANKALP programme
2 dead, 10 injured after tipper truck topples in Ladakh, Rajnath Singh expresses grief
Morbi bridge collapse: Death toll rises to 135, rescue operations still on

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Share This Article
Facebook Whatsapp Whatsapp Copy Link Print
Previous Article PM Modi to address Kautilya Economic Conclave on Friday evening
Next Article 63.88 pc overall turnout recorded in J&K Assembly elections
Leave a Comment Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected

1MFollowersLike
262kFollowersFollow
InstagramFollow
234kSubscribersSubscribe
Google NewsFollow

Latest News

Hyderpora underpass turns into cab stand, sparks safety concerns
City
May 26, 2025
Bear-Proof Corral unveiled to tackle human-wildlife conflict in Drass
Kashmir
May 26, 2025
SACPPE holds session to safeguard children from unexploded shells in Uri
Kashmir
May 26, 2025
‘Prem Visheshagya’ brings laughter to Natrangs’ Sunday theatre
Jammu
May 26, 2025

Recent Posts

  • Hyderpora underpass turns into cab stand, sparks safety concerns
  • Bear-Proof Corral unveiled to tackle human-wildlife conflict in Drass
  • SACPPE holds session to safeguard children from unexploded shells in Uri
  • ‘Prem Visheshagya’ brings laughter to Natrangs’ Sunday theatre
  • Admin spreads awareness on drug abuse in Sgr

Recent Comments

  1. SavePlus on AI and Behavioural Analytics in Gaming: Making the World of Gaming Better
  2. Parul on Govt acknowledges faulty streetlights on Narbal-Tangmarg road
  3. dr gora on Women Veterinarians and the Goal of Viksit Bharat
  4. jalwa game login on National Education Policy 2020: Transforming India’s Educational System
  5. Virender Bhat on Pahalgam Attack: A War on Humanity, Peace, and Kashmiriyat

Contact Us

Flat No 7,Press Enclave, Srinagar, 190001
0194 2477887
9971795706
[email protected]
[email protected]

Quick Link

  • E-Paper
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Top Categories

Stay Connected

1.06MLike
262.5kFollow
InstagramFollow
234.3kSubscribe
WhatsAppFollow
Rising KashmirRising Kashmir
Follow US
© 2025. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?