Punjab, UT, Haryana to remove caste from police records, FIRs

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 14

Mentioning caste in police records will soon be a thing of the past. For, Punjab, Haryana and the Chandigarh administration have decided to delete the column in police records and FIRs.

“The state is of the view that mentioning caste, etc, in forms used under the Punjab Police Rules framed in 1934 have no relevance in the present scenario,” said Naveen Saini, IGP, Administration, Bureau of Investigation, in a written statement filed today during the resumed hearing of a PIL by advocate Hari Chand Arora.

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The only exception was requirement of mentioning caste under a specific statute, like the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Saini said the National Crime Records Bureau, New Delhi, had been asking all states to furnish data of accused persons, including their caste. 

On October 18, the Punjab DGP, IT and Communications, had, as such, shot off a letter to the Bureau for not insisting on information about the caste of the accused. Appearing before the Bench of Justices Ajay Kumar Mittal and Amit Rawal, the counsel for Chandigarh administration said the UT had also decided to delete columns asking caste of the accused from forms used under the Police Rules. 

He sought more time to file a formal written statement. Haryana has already filed a written statement in this regard. The case will now come up for further hearing on January 15. 

Arora was seeking directions to Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh against mentioning caste or religion of the accused, victim or witnesses in recovery and seizure memos, FIRs, inquest papers and other forms prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure and Punjab Police Rules.

The petitioner had stated that the requirement to state the “caste” was totally in conflict with the letter and spirit of provisions of the Constitution. He had 

said that the impugned provisions of the Punjab Police Rules were outdated and were made before the Constitution came into force.