Caste-Based Discrimination in Prisons: Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Colonial-Era Manuals

The Supreme Court of India recently reserved its verdict on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the deeply entrenched practice of caste-based discrimination and labor segregation in several state prisons. The petition, filed by journalist Sukanya Shantha, brings to light how various state prison manuals—including those of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal—continue to institutionalize caste hierarchies by assigning tasks like sweeping and cleaning latrines to prisoners from marginalized castes, while reserving cooking and kitchen duties for those from 'upper' castes. During the hearings, the bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud observed that such practices are a direct violation of the fundamental right to dignity. The petitioner argued that these rules are remnants of the colonial-era Prison Act of 1894, which sought to maintain social order by mirroring the outside world's caste prejudices within the carceral system. Despite the Union Government’s Model Prison Manual of 2016 explicitly prohibiting discrimination based on caste or religion, many states have failed to amend their specific manuals, citing 'Prisons' as a State Subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.