Top court releases Ist study on 'judicial conceptions of caste'

In a first-of-its-kind institutional exercise, the Supreme Court has released a report on “judicial conceptions of caste” that urges judges to adopt constitutionally sensitive vocabulary in caste-related litigation.

- Utkarsh Anand

Stressing caste is not a historical relic but a continuing constitutional concern, the report says judicial discourse must reject outdated terminology, interrogate inherited assumptions, and recognise caste as a structure of persistent disadvantage shaping opportunity in India.

Prepared by the Supreme Court's in-house think tank, the Centre for Research and Planning (CRP), the report studies seven decades of constitution bench judgments on reservations, atrocities laws and personal laws to map how the court described caste, oppressed communities and remedies. It notes that judicial language plays a decisive role in shaping legal doctrine and reinforcing — or dismantling — public notions of equality, dignity and merit.