The Allahabad High Court
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: Acting on the order of the Allahabad High Court, the Uttar Pradesh government has directed that caste should not be mentioned in the FIRs and arrest memos and that references to the caste be removed from the police records and public spaces.
The restriction however will not apply in cases registered under the SC/ST Act. In such cases caste references can be mentioned in the FIRs.
The government also imposed a ban on the caste-based rallies and there would be strict monitoring of social media.
According to the official sources, a directive to this effect has been issued to the district authorities by acting chief secretary Deepak Kumar.
The state government’s directive comes at a time when UP is gearing up for the panchayat polls.
The HC had said in its order that there should be no mention of castes of the accused and the witnesses in the FIRs and police documents and had opined that it was against the constitutional values.
The court had remarked that there were many technological tools available for identification and as such using caste for the same was akin to dividing the society.
The court had also directed that the caste of the accused should not be mentioned on the notice board at the police stations. It had suggested that the name of the mother should be mentioned in the police forms to promote gender equity.
The government’s directive could cause problems for the cast- based outfits in UP and they might have to get back to the drawing board to formulate a different strategy in the next assembly polls due in two years’ time.