New Delhi, December 12, 2025 – In a rare self-reflective move, India's Supreme Court has released a comprehensive report that lays bare the inconsistencies in its own historical approach to caste, urging the judiciary to adopt a "caste-aware" lens to dismantle entrenched inequalities. Titled Report on Judicial Conceptions of Caste, the document—published by the Court's Centre for Research and Planning (CRP) in November 2025—analyzes 75 years of Constitution Bench judgments, revealing how judicial language has often inadvertently reinforced the very hierarchies it seeks to eradicate.
The 100-page report comes at a pivotal moment, as India prepares for its first caste census since 1931, expected in 2025 or later, amid heated debates on affirmative action and social justice. It underscores that caste is not a "historical relic" but a "continuing constitutional concern" that shapes access to education, employment, and basic opportunities, affecting over 160 million Dalits and other marginalized groups trapped in cycles of discrimination.
## Unpacking Judicial Contradictions: From Condemnation to Unwitting Reinforcement
At its core, the report acts as an "autopsy of the judicial mind," scrutinizing rulings from 1950 to 2025 on affirmative action, personal laws, and caste-based atrocities. It highlights stark contradictions: While the Court has robustly condemned caste as a "rigid hereditary hierarchy grounded in purity and pollution," some judgments have portrayed it as "originally benign occupational divisions" or even an "autonomous group," diluting its oppressive reality.
These inconsistencies extend to the language used for oppressed communities. Early decisions drew on paternalistic metaphors, likening reservations to "handicaps" or "crutches," implying inherent deficiencies rather than structural barriers. Terms like "Harijan"—coined by Mahatma Gandhi but now widely viewed as patronizing or abusive—have lingered in rulings, alongside descriptors that evoke stigma, such as "Girijan" for tribal groups. Even as the Court has evolved to affirm dignity and recognize "constructed merit," the report notes persistent lapses, where "neutral" terms like "poverty" or "vulnerability" obscure caste's role in systemic exclusion.
"The way caste is spoken about in judicial discourse becomes especially significant... to promote greater awareness, critical reflection and sensitivity within the justice system," the report states, emphasizing that such language risks perpetuating hierarchies under the guise of impartiality.
## A Blueprint for Change: Calls for Sensitive, Inclusive Language
The CRP's analysis doesn't stop at critique; it offers actionable recommendations. Judges are urged to reject outdated terminology and embrace "contemporary, inclusive" phrasing aligned with constitutional values of equality and dignity under Articles 14, 15, and 16. Instead of deficit-based descriptions, the report advocates terms like "historical disadvantage" or "systemic exclusion" to frame caste's impact accurately.
It also calls for enhanced judicial training to foster critical reflection, ensuring discourse supports "substantive equality" rather than mere formal equality. Justice O. Chinnappa Reddy's words from a past ruling are invoked as a guiding principle: “Mere reservation of a percentage of seats in colleges and a percentage of posts in the services is not enough to solve the problem of backwardness. Developmental facility and opportunity must be created to enable the really backward to take full advantage of reservations.”
Broader societal implications are woven in, including the private sector's role via corporate social responsibility (CSR) to combat exclusion. As Justice S. Ravindra Bhat noted in a referenced judgment: “Private sector managements need to show sensitivity to societal patterns of exclusion and must consciously make an attempt not to fall prey [to] dominant social stereotypes, which penalize people due to their birth into stigmatizing jobs.”
## Why Now? The Imperative for a Caste-Aware Judiciary
The report's timing amplifies its urgency. With climate policies increasingly intersecting with social inequities—such as "thermal injustice" disproportionately affecting marginalized castes—the document positions itself as a "blueprint for caste-conscious governance." It argues that ignoring caste's "entrenched structure of social power" undermines the Constitution's transformative vision, allowing inequalities to fester in education, jobs, and even environmental protections.
Legal experts hail it as a "first-of-its-kind institutional exercise," signaling the judiciary's willingness to confront its own biases. Yet, challenges remain: Recent controversies, like former Chief Justice B.R. Gavai facing backlash from his own Dalit community for advocating a "creamy layer" exclusion in reservations, underscore the report's call for nuanced, empathetic adjudication.
As India grapples with its caste conundrum, the Supreme Court's report isn't just a diagnostic tool—it's a clarion call. By embedding caste awareness into judicial practice, the Court can lead the charge toward a more equitable society, one judgment at a time. The full report is available on the Supreme Court's website for public review.
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