No caste discrimination in prisons, rules SC, strikes down prison manuals

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on Thursday held the colonial prison policy that a man of 'higher caste' cannot be forced to work at any trade as it would 'disgrace him' and his family amounts to caste discrimination and is violative of the Constitution.

The bench delivered the judgment in a petition filed by journalist Sukanya Shanta, who highlighted the existence of caste-based segregation in prisons. The court struck down as unconstitutional the provisions of the prison manuals of several states, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

The bench took objection to the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh prison manual, which provided that a convict sentenced to simple imprisonment, shall not be called upon to perform duties of a "degrading or menial character" unless he belongs to a "class or community accustomed to perform such duties".

The West Bengal prison manual said sweepers should be chosen from the ‘Mether or Harijan caste, also from the Chandal or other castes’.

“Any prisoner in a jail who is of so high a caste that he cannot eat food cooked by the existing cooks shall be appointed a cook and be made to cook for the full complement of men," the WB manual provided. The bench also flagged the provisions of the Rajasthan prison manual which referred to denotified tribes. 

The court also laid down the following directions and guidelines in the landmark judgment:

1. All states and Union Territories to revise their prison manuals/rules within three months of this judgment

2. The Union government to make necessary changes to address caste-based discrimination in the Model Prison Manual of 2016 and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act 2013 within three months of this judgment

3. The "caste" column and any reference to caste in the undertrial and/or convict prisoners’ register inside the prison be deleted

4. The Supreme Court initiated suo motu proceedings and on the first date of hearing, all states and the Union government shall file a compliance report on the judgment

5. Several definitions of habitual offenders particularly related to tribes notified as ‘criminal tribes’ are declared unconstitutional. State police directed to ensure that members of de-notified tribes are not subjected to arbitrary arrest