Caste-Based Discrimination in Prison: SC Issues Notices to Central Govt and 11 States

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and 11 states on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that the prison manuals of these states promote caste-based discrimination within correctional facilities.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged senior advocate S Muralidhar’s submissions, asserting that the jail manuals of these 11 states exhibit discrimination in the allocation of work and housing of inmates based on their caste.

The senior lawyer highlighted differential treatment faced by certain de-notified tribes and habitual offenders. The court directed Muralidhar to compile jail manuals from the states and scheduled the plea for a hearing after four weeks.

The bench, while issuing notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and other parties, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to aid the court in addressing the concerns raised in the PIL filed by Sukanya Shantha, a resident of Kalyan in Maharashtra.

“The petitioner states that caste-based discrimination is there in barracks to the manual labour which is allotted and such discrimination among de-notified tribes and habitual offenders. The plea seeks repeal of offending provisions in state prison manuals. Issue notice to the Union and the state government…,” the order directed.

The solicitor general expressed unfamiliarity with discrimination based on caste, suggesting that segregation usually occurs based on the status of undertrial prisoners and convicts.

The states where the alleged discrimination is said to take place include Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.