HC Seeks TS' Response On 'No Religion- No Caste' Option In Records

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday asked the state government’s response in a PIL which sought directions to the government to not demanding the social identity of persons who did not want to state their religion and caste in public records, where it is otherwise mandatory.

The Centre has filed its reply stating that it required a policy decision by the ministry concerned. It said that in such cases, the authorities were recording it as ‘Religion not stated,’ which had the same meaning as ‘no religion.’

The division bench headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe gave the state government three weeks to file its counter to the PIL filed in 2017 by D.V. Ramakrishna Rao and Saladi Clarence Krupalani. They said the state government and the Centre were not taking action on their representation for recording ‘no religion’ and ‘no caste’ in the records including death certificates, for persons who don't want the data to be recorded.

The existing format does not allow for such persons not to mention their religious and caste identity and this was against the secular spirit of the Constitution apart from being violative of the Articles 14, 19 and 21 and 25.