"SC Launches Suo Moto Action on Caste, Gender, and Disability Discrimination in Prisons"

The Supreme Court has declared that discrimination in prisons based on caste, gender, and disability is illegal. It has initiated suo moto proceedings under the title In Re: Discrimination Inside Prisons in India. A bench led by Chief Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, ruled that caste-based segregation in prisons violates Articles 14, 15, 17, 21, and 23 of the Indian Constitution. Key directions from the Court include: All States and Union Territories must revise their Prison Manuals/Rules within three months. The Union Government must update the Model Prison Manual 2016 and the Model Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2013 to remove caste-based discrimination within three months. Prisons must delete the "caste" column and any reference to caste from the registers of undertrial and convicted prisoners. The suo moto proceedings will begin as In Re: Discrimination Inside Prisons in India, and all States and the Union Government must file a compliance report at the first hearing. References to "habitual offenders" in prison manuals must follow the definitions provided in state laws. This direction relates to tribes historically labeled as criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, and later denotified under the Habitual Offenders Act, 1952. The Court has declared all other definitions unconstitutional. The Police must follow the guidelines from Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014) and Amanatullah Khan v. Commissioner of Police, Delhi (2024) to prevent arbitrary arrests of members of Denotified Tribes. Case: Sukanya Shantha v. UOI & Ors.,WP (C) No. 1404 of 2023 www.legalmeet.in