Supreme Court’s Landmark Ruling: Caste-Based Job Assignment in Prisons Unjust, Violates Article 15
New Delhi,
In a significant ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of caste-based job allocation in Indian prisons, which was brought forward through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The PIL argued that several prisons across India assign work to inmates based on their caste, which directly violates Article 15 of the Indian Constitution.
The Supreme Court, during the hearing, made it clear that prison manuals discriminating by assigning lower-caste inmates tasks such as cleaning and sweeping, while upper-caste inmates are given cooking duties, is unconstitutional. The court stated that this practice goes against the very essence of Article 15, which prohibits discrimination based on caste, religion, gender, race, or place of birth.
The court further emphasized that assigning duties to individuals based on their caste not only undermines the values of social justice but also violates the fundamental rights of prisoners. The court directed the government and prison authorities to put an immediate end to all caste-based discrimination and ensure that work assignments within prisons are made without any bias.
This decision is being hailed as a major step toward promoting social equality. The court also underscored the role of prisons as places for reformation, not spaces for perpetuating discrimination and injustice. It instructed authorities to review and amend prison manuals where necessary to prevent such discriminatory practices in the future.
Legal experts and human rights activists have welcomed the ruling, considering it a milestone in the effort to reform the Indian prison system and eliminate caste-based discrimination.
(Report by: HIT AND HOT NEWS Team)
