By Prof Satya Narayan Misra in Bhubaneswar, October 8, 2024: Sukanya Santha, an intrepid journalist, visited and stayed in several Indian prisons and wrote an article “From Segregation to Labor: The Indian Prison System”, recounting the blatant discrimination in work performed by prison inmates, based on caste, sanctified by Prison Manuals. Her writ for repealing the offending provisions in State Prison Manuals has been upheld by the three bench judges headed by the CJI in a historic judgment, a day after the Gandhi Jayanti.

The Supreme Court referring to Prison Manuals of several states has brought out how they sanction blatantly unconstitutional practices, violating the process of Articles 14, 15, 17, 21, and 23 which is considered the equality code. The division of manual labor based on caste, segregation of barracks, and discrimination against prisoners belonging to ‘de notified tribes ‘and habitual offenders are prevalent in every state prison.

The Court has noted how the prison system has been out of sync with the core philosophy of the Constitution; ushering in an equal society (Art 14), ending all forms of discrimination (Art 15(1)), prohibition untouchability of any form (Art 17), and the abolition of forced labor & exploitation (Art 23). The colonial administration linked castes with prison administration of labor, food, and treatment of prisoners.

Not only were menial work and supposedly polluting occupations allocated to prisoners from the community placed lower in the caste hierarchy, same were expected to carry out their hereditary trade. Food was expected to be prepared by a suitable caste, and scavenger classes assigned tasks such as manual scavenging, which violated the constitutional provision against untouchability.

The bench has observed that “not providing dignity to prisoners is a relic of colonizers, where oppressive systems were designed to dehumanize and degrade those under control of the state”. The Court then elaborates on how the existing Prison Manuals violate the equality code. The rules that discriminate among individual prisoners based on their caste are violative of Article 14 on account of invalid classification and subversion of substantive equality.

By assigning cleaning and sweeping work to the marginalized caste, while allowing the higher castes to do the cooking, the Manuals directly discriminate under Article 15(1). Phrases such as menial jobs to be performed by castes accustomed to performing such duties’ may appear to be neutral but it is targeted at marginal communities.

Such indirect usage of phrases, which target the lower castes cannot be permitted in our constitutional framework, the Court avers. The Court also observed that such Manuals reinforce stereotypes against the marginalized castes. These stereotypes not only demean and stigmatize marginal communities but also serve to legitimize a social hierarchy that goes against the constitutional values of equality.

The persistence of such an approach in official documents like the Prison Manuals normalizes the idea that they are incapable of dignified or intellectual work. For instance, the WB Manual says the sweeper should be chosen from the Meri or Hari caste. No societal group is born as a ‘scavenger class’. They are forced to undertake certain jobs that are considered menial and menial and polluting based on the notion of birth-based purity and pollution.

Art 21 is a constitutional guarantee that individuals from marginalized communities should have the freedom to break free from traditional social restrictions. When caste prejudices manifest in institutional settings like prisons, they create further restrictions on the personal development of individuals from marginal communities.

Such restrictions deprive them of a sense of dignity and the expectation that they should be treated equally. The Court asserts that the right to life in Article 21 is not to live an animal-like existence but a life of dignity, which the Prison Manuals deprive the marginalized communities.

The Court refers to Article 23 (1) which provides an enforceable fundamental right against social and economic exploitation. It aims to prohibit human trafficking and other forms of forced labor. The broad scope can be invoked to challenge practices where no wages are paid, and social security measures are not adopted. Article 23 can be applied inside the prisons if prisoners are subjected to degrading labor or similar oppressive practices.

The prison rules by exploiting the labor of the oppressed castes perpetuate the same injustices to guard against Article 23. Thus, the Prison Manuals are violating the equality code ensconced in Articles in Articles 14, 15, 17, 21 & 23. The Court has accordingly asked the State governments to revise the Manuals in three months. It has also asked to delete the caste column and any other reference in convict/undertrial prisoner’s registers.

It was Paul Frier who wrote in his seminal book ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’ ‘True solidarity is found only in the plentitude of the act of love, in its existentialism, in the praxis’. CJI Chandrachud writes: ‘The body of caste is made of steel. But not so strong that they cannot be broken with the power of the Constitution.’ Sukanya Shantha must be complimented for her wonderful research work to unravel the colonial system of caste discrimination that still stalks our Prison Manuals & flagrantly violates the equality jurisprudence which is a basic structure of our Constitution.

The memory goes back to another journalist and activist Sheela Barse who was instrumental in bringing out to light the plight of women undertrial prisoners, physically and mentally retarded children who are kept in jail in human condition. The Sheela Barse Vs UOI (1986) case has now made it mandatory for District judges to visit jails once in two months to see the condition of prisoners and undertrials. It was Justice Krishna Iyer in Sunil Batra Vs Delhi Administration Case (1978) whose judgment has ensured that Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution apply to prisoners also.

To quote Justice Iyer: “When a prisoner is traumatized, the Constitution suffers & whether inside the prison or outside, a person shall not be deprived of his guaranteed freedom.’ The present judgment echoes a similar sentiment; for eschewing the repugnant discriminatory practice of the caste inside Indian jails. Everyone is born equal; there cannot be any stigma attached to caste, whether inside a jail or outside.

• Prof Misra teaches Constitutional Law