The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government and its director general of police to amend police manuals to stop recording caste in investigation documents and other public records, Bar and Bench reported on Saturday.

A bench of Justice Vinod Diwakar also called for changes to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules to ban caste-based slogans and identifiers on all vehicles. It also said that fines should be imposed on vehicle owners who fail to comply with the directions.

While ordering the removal of caste entry from police forms, the court directed that a field for mother’s name should be added alongside father’s and husband’s names.

It also ordered the removal of caste columns from police station notice boards.

Exemptions would only apply in cases where declaration of caste is legally required, such as under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, the court said.

It added that the directions are binding in Uttar Pradesh and optional for the Centre, which was not a party to the case.

During the hearing, the court also rejected the police’s claim that identifying accused by caste prevents confusion. It observed that modern tools such as body cameras, fingerprints, Aadhaar number, mobile numbers and parents’ details allow for accurate identification.

“In the first quarter of the 21st century, the police still rely on caste as a means of identification,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying. “It’s unfortunate.”

“In a caste-ridden society where social divisions continue to shape perception and law enforcement, it is necessary to re-examine the practice of recording caste and religion in police reports and public documents,” the legal news outlet quoted the court as saying.

It added that law enforcement agencies are not immune to societal biases, and investigative impartiality and enforcement neutrality must be cultivated.

The court said that recording or declaring caste without legal relevance amounts to identity profiling, reinforces prejudice and violates fundamental rights.

‘Caste identifiers undermine constitutional values’

The court also noted that caste identifiers are reappearing in public and online spaces, calling it a coded assertion of social power that undermines constitutional values, Bar and Bench reported.

“In states like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, individuals commonly mark their cars, bikes and sometimes homes with warnings,” the legal news outlet quoted the court as saying.

It also flagged trends on social media platforms where “young caste-identified individuals” display and “romanticise caste aggression and dominance”, and regressive honour codes.

The court said such behaviour reflects historical hierarchies, modern insecurities, and undermines constitutional morality.

It added that there was a need for strengthening the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, 2021, to flag and act against caste-glorifying or hate-inducing content online.

It also asked the state chief secretary to share a copy of the order with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, Bar and Bench reported.

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