INTRODUCTION
This reaction describes the recent legal activism in India, mostly centring on a major verdict of the Allahabad High Court that denounced the veneration of caste as antinational and claimed that respect of the Constitution was the paramount kind of patriotism. This decision came in broad sweeps on the Uttar Pradesh Government to remove the caste references in government documents and public spheres. The essence of such judicial directives is the active campaign to eliminate the deep-rooted caste system which is imperative to India as it attempts to realize its vision of being a truly developed country by 2047.
BACKGROUND
Caste Discrimination and the Constitutional Framework: The major initiative of the Indian Constitution was founded on equality, where its principal figure, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar aimed at putting an end to caste-based discrimination. Article 15 of the Constitution clearly forbids any discrimination based on the caste identity and Article 17 clearly abolished the practice of untouchability.
Discrimination against castes was also to be eliminated by further legislative measures through the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act). Caste based violence and discrimination is still rampant despite these legal measures. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar cautioned that the castes are anti-national as they create jealousy and antipathy among caste to caste.
The recent major ruling by the Allahabad High court issued by a bench of Justice Vinod Diwaker was as a result of a Section 482 CrPC plea. In the course of the proceedings, the Court observed that the names of the accused individuals had been stated in the First Information Report (FIR) and seizure memo which prompted the bench to strongly object to this practice. The court noted that the police in Uttar Pradesh were still filing caste on FIRs and recovery memos, even after there were Supreme Court orders that prohibited the reference to caste in the pleadings and the cause titles.
KEY POINTS
Caste Glorification is Anti-National: Allahabad High Court made it clear that caste glorification trend is anti-national. The Court added that caste glorification in vehicles, sign boards and social spaces is a coded statement of social power which is against the constitutional principles of the Indian Constitution. The ultimate object of the Constitution is to obtain a casteless society.
True Patriotism is Constitutional Adherence: The court emphasized that the ultimate expression of national service is the Constitution, not the lineage or ancestry but the subordination to the Constitution was the ultimate form of patriotism. It must be character, equality and fraternity, rather than legacy, which gives a citizen real pride. Constitutional authorities need to follow constitutional morality and generalized work to create a powerful national character.
Disapproval of Caste References in Police Records: The Court heavily deplored the use of making caste entries in FIRs, recovery memos, and investigation documents and said that it was a grave offense on constitutional morality.
Identity Profiling: It is acts of writing or stating a caste of an accused which is not legally relevant, it is identity profiling rather than objective investigation. The practice strengthens prejudice, distorts the opinion of the masses, perverts the way the judiciary thinks, and infringes the fundamental rights.
Objection to the Justification of the DGP: The Court dismissed the submission of the Director General of Police (DGP) that caste was required to prevent confusion of identity as this was an outdated and a legal fallacy in the presence of more modern means to identify such as Aadhaar, fingerprints, mobile numbers and parental information. Justice Diwaker reprimanded the DGP on the ground that he was acting as an ivory-tower policeman who was not in touch with constitutional morality.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The Allahabad High Court gave the UP Government detailed directions and the Central Government recommendations to promote caste in various sectors:
- Compulsory Decease of Caste References: Based on the decision, the UP Government was to take measures such as: Police Documentation: Rid FIRs, recovery memos, arrest and surrender memos, police final reports, and notice boards of police stations of all caste columns.
- Identification: The name of the mother is to be added to identify the mother with the name of the father/husband in the appropriate forms.
- Public Displays: See to it that the caste signboards that announce villages and towns and colonies as caste areas are removed.
- Vehicles: Take caste identifiers and slogans off all the vehicles, both personal and official, by modifying the Motor Vehicles Rules.
- Social Media and Digital Platforms: The Court was concerned with the emergence of digital media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Reels which are perceived as the new echo chambers of hyper-masculine caste identity and the romanticization of caste aggression, dominance, and retrogressive honour codes.
- Digital Action: The state should take action against the caste-glorifying posts on the social media within the framework of IT Rules, 2021, that should be supplemented by the monitoring and reporting mechanism.
- Prior Caste Rally decisions: In 2013, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court put on hold rallies made on caste grounds in Uttar Pradesh with an immediate effect in response to a PIL citing that they were anti-constitutional.
- Madras High Court Ruling on Education (2025): The Madras High Court ordered the Inspector General of Registration to stop the registration of the societies that consist of caste-based identities to promote caste. It required that the schools and colleges operated by such societies should drop the nomenclature of their caste within 4 weeks or risk being deregistered. The court cautioned that permitting caste-based identities to be applied in school names will result in the separation, animosity and violence among school children.
CONCLUSION
The prescriptions of the Allahabad High Court are a decisive judicial move towards the conversion of the constitutional ideal of the casteless society into administrative and actual realities in Uttar Pradesh. The decision essentially identifies the glorification of caste with anti-national behaviour and assumes the adoration of the Constitution to be the essence of true patriotism. Although the law cannot transform hearts and minds, the directions emphasize the role of the state in eliminating systemic caste practices and in the process, advises long-term, multi-tiered action to be taken by instituting policy, law enforcement and awareness programmes to eliminate caste bias. The communal endeavour to create inclusive society without caste discrimination demands successful execution of progressive judgments and transformation of culture with the help of education and dialogue.
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WRITTEN BY Manisha Kunwar
