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Here are some quotable quotes from yesterday's #SupremeCourt judgment on caste discrimination in prison manuals:

✅Our interpretation of the Constitution must fill the silences in its text.

✅The Constitution is not just a legal document, but in India’s social structure, it is a quantum leap. In one stroke, it gave a dignified identity to all citizens of India.

✅The Constitution mandates the replacement of fundamental wrongs with fundamental rights.

✅The fight against caste-based discrimination is not a battle that can be won overnight; it requires sustained effort, dedication, and the willingness to confront and challenge societal norms that perpetuate inequality.

✅As a society that divided people into a hierarchy, we must remain conscious of the forms and kinds of discrimination against marginalized groups. Discriminatory laws enacted before the Constitution of India came into force need to be scrutinized and done away with.

✅Article 17 enunciates that everyone is born equal. There cannot be any stigma attached to the existence, touch or presence of any person.

✅A nation must prioritize human dignity—ensuring that every person, regardless of their background or identity, is able to live with respect, equality, and freedom.

✅The right to live with dignity extends even to the incarcerated. Not providing dignity to prisoners is a relic of the colonizers and pre-colonial mechanisms, where oppressive systems were designed to dehumanize and degrade those under the control of the State.

✅The rules of caste continued in medieval history. The law of caste manifested in several ways– with each manifestation causing a form of violence against the oppressed communities.

✅The exercise of the power to arrest or detain may become reflective of a colonial mindset, if not exercised with caution.

✅Discrimination against the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Denotified Tribes has continued in a systemic manner. Remedying systemic discrimination requires concrete multi-faceted efforts by all institutions.

✅Segregating prisoners on the basis of caste would reinforce caste differences or animosity that ought to be prevented at the first place. Segregation would not lead to rehabilitation.

✅The notion that an occupation is considered as “degrading or menial” is an aspect of the caste system and untouchability.

✅Refusal to check caste practices or prejudices amounts to cementing of such practices. If such practices are based on the oppression of the marginalized castes, then such practices cannot be left untouched.

✅The rule that a prisoner of a high caste be allowed to refuse the food cooked by other castes is a legal sanction by the State authorities to untouchability and the caste system.”

✅Article 21 envisages the growth of individual personality. Caste prejudices and discrimination hinder the growth of one’s personality. Therefore, Article 21 provides for the right to overcome caste barriers as a part of the right to life of individuals from marginalized communities.

✅Assigning labour based on caste background strips individuals of their liberty to engage in meaningful work, and denies them the opportunity to rise above the constraints imposed by their social identity.

✅After all, the “bounds of caste are made of steel”– “Sometimes invisible but almost always inextricable””.But not so strong that they cannot be broken with the power of the Constitution.

Read more @ https://citecase.in/sukanya-shantha-vs-union-of-india-2024-insc-753-prison-manuals-caste-discrimination/

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