'Untouchability' Not Merely Caste-Based; Includes All Forms Of Social Exclusion Based On Idea That Certain Persons Are Inferior : Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently observed that “Untouchability” was not merely a caste based practice but included all practices of social ostracism and exclusion that have their bases in ritual ideas of purity/pollution and hierarchy/subordination. "This requires the Court to ask whether a particular practice, like untouchability, is a practice of social subordination, exclusion, and segregation, based upon an idea that certain personal characteristics can justify relegating individuals to an inferior position in society" The court was hearing a plea filed by Senior Advocate Elephant G Rajendran against the Madras Bar Association claiming that the association had prevented his son, a non-member from drinking water at the MBA Hall. The court noted that some members of the Assembly also understood Article 17 as being interlinked to the provisions of Article 15 thus including a right to enjoy equal social conditions. “Meanwhile, other members expressly linked the provision to Article 15, and repeatedly argued that the understanding of Article 17 included the right of everyone to enjoy ‘equal social conditions’, ‘equal rights’, ‘social equality’, the abolition of ‘social inequity, social stigma and social disabilities’ and as a remedial clause for ‘those who have been left behind in social and economic matters’.” the court observed.