Caste Glorification 'Anti-National', Respecting Constitution 'True Patriotism': Allahabad High Court Cracks Down On Caste References In FIRs, Public Places

In a significant judgment, the Allahabad High Court recently took strong exception to the trend of caste glorification in society and issued sweeping directions to the Uttar Pradesh Government to remove caste references from FIRs, police documents, public records, motor vehicles and public signboards. A bench of Justice Vinod Diwaker observed that such caste glorification is 'anti-national' and that reverence for the Constitution, rather than for lineage, is the 'highest form of patriotism' and the 'truest expression of national service'. Significantly, the single judge said that if India has to become a truly developed nation by 2047, it is imperative that we eradicate the deeply entrenched caste system from our society. "This goal demands sustained, multi-level efforts from all levels of government—through progressive policies, robust anti-discrimination laws, and transformative social programs", the Court remarked as it took note of the absence of a comprehensive law aimed at dismantling the caste system itself and its pervasive social influence Importantly, the Court also came down heavily on the practice of recording caste in FIRs, recovery memos, and investigation documents, as it called such identity profiling to be violative of constitutional morality. The bench made these observations while dealing with a Section 482 CrPC plea, in which it noted that the castes of the accused persons were mentioned in the FIR and seizure memo. Taking strong exception to the same, the Court warned thus: "Writing or declaring the caste of an accused—without legal relevance—amounts to identity profiling, not objective investigation. It reinforces prejudice, corrupts public opinion, contaminates judicial thinking, violates fundamental rights, and undermines constitutional morality". It may be noted that the Court had earlier directed the Director General of Police to justify the practice. Though the DGP defended it as a tool for avoiding identity confusion and referred to government formats, the Court rejected the justification. The bench termed it a 'legal fallacy' as it noted that when modern tools such as Aadhar, fingerprints, mobile numbers, and parental details are available, this reasoning was outdated. Interestingly, Justice Diwakar criticised the DGP for his reasoning, remarking that instead of showing sensitivity, the DGP conducted himself like an “ivory-tower policeman, detached from constitutional morality, and eventually retired merely as a bureaucrat in uniform”. Furthermore, the Court lamented that despite Supreme Court orders prohibiting mention of caste in pleadings and cause titles, police in Uttar Pradesh continue to record caste in FIRs and recovery memos. The bench termed it as 'unfortunate' that in the first quarter of the 21st century, the police were still relying on caste as a means of identification. Against this backdrop, the Court issued the following directions to the UP Government: Delete caste columns from FIRs, recovery memos, arrest and surrender memos, police final reports and notice boards in police stations.Add the mother's name for identification along with father/husband's name.Remove caste identifiers and slogans from private and public vehicles by amending the Motor Vehicles Rules.Ensure removal of caste-based signboards declaring villages, towns, or colonies as caste territories.Act against caste-glorifying content on social media under the IT Rules, 2021 by complementing it with a monitoring and reporting mechanism. The Court also directed the Registrar to send a copy of the judgment to the Chief Secretary, UP, who shall place it before the Chief Minister and to the Union Home Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Ministry of Electronics and IT, and the Press Council of India. Caste is a serious threat to Secularism Referring to Dr B.R. Ambedkar's warning that "castes are anti-national because they generate jealousy and antipathy between caste and caste", the Court said that a citizen's true pride must lie not in caste but in character, and not in legacy but in equality and fraternity. It said that the caste system, which had been put in the grave by the framers of the Constitution, was trying to raise its 'ugly head' in various forms and that Caste poses a 'serious threat to secularism' and to the integrity of the country. Noting that achieving a casteless society is the “ultimate aim of the Constitution, the bench remarked thus: "Those who do not learn from the events of history are doomed to suffer again. It is, therefore, of utmost importance for the people of India to adhere in letter and spirit to the Constitution, which has moulded this country into a sovereign, socialist, secular democratic republic and has promised to secure to all its citizens justice, social, economic and political, equality of status and of ...

Caste Glorification 'Anti-National', Respecting Constitution 'True Patriotism': Allahabad High Court Cracks Down On Caste References In FIRs, Public Places

Sparsh Upadhyay

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