Court Orders Uttar Pradesh to Cease Caste Mention in Police Records
The Allahabad High Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to halt the practice of recording an accused's caste in police records. It criticized the practice as a 'legal fallacy' hampering constitutional morality and instructed the state's police to omit caste details from all documentation forms.
- Country:
- India
In a decisive ruling, the Allahabad High Court has mandated the Uttar Pradesh government to stop including the caste of an accused in police records. This move comes after the court condemned the practice as a 'legal fallacy' that 'undermines constitutional morality' and threatens India's constitutional democracy.
Justice Vinod Diwakar highlighted that the practice constitutes identity profiling and called for its immediate cessation. The judgment stems from a criminal case involving liquor smuggling, where the court found the inclusion of caste in documents unnecessary and unlawful.
The court criticized the police's reliance on caste for identification, noting that modern tools like cameras and biometric data render such practices obsolete. Additionally, the court suggested a regulated framework to remove caste identifiers on vehicles, promoting a caste-less society aligned with constitutional values.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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