State govt agrees to delete caste, religion columns from FIRs

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government has agreed to delete the columns mentioning caste in various forms, including first information reports (FIRs), prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, and the Punjab Police Rules.

During the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation ( PIL) filed by advocate Hari Chand Arora seeking directions to Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to order all investigating officers not to mention caste or religion of the accused, victim or witnesses in FIRs, recovery memos, seizure memos, inquest papers and other forms prescribed under the Code of Criminal Procedure ,1973, and the Punjab Police Rules ,1934.

The Haryana government filed a reply through the special secretary (home department) in this regard. In its reply, the Haryan a government said it is also of the view that there is no relevance of mentioning caste or religion of the accused in those firms, and it is considering to initiate process to delete these columns. The Punjab government and the UT administration sought more time for filing their replies. The PIL has now been adjourned to December 14 for further proceedings.

The Haryana government, however, expressed some reservations regarding difficulty in not mentioning caste in cases where the complainant mentions caste of accused in the FIR, or in cases under the Prevention of Atrocities against the Scheduled Cates (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The petitioner had stated in the PIL that the requirement to mention caste in various forms, which are part of the Punjab Police Rules, 1934, is totally in conflict with the letter and spirit of various provisions of the Constitution of India.

The petitioner has argued that other alternative forms of identification like mentioning Aadhaar card number, house number or patti/ward number of the accused, witness or victim may be used by officials concerned.

CASTE OR RELIGION OF ACCUSED, VICTIM OR WITNESSES NOT TO BE MENTIONED IN FIRS, RECOVERY AND SEIZURE MEMOS, INQUEST PAPERS