A writ petition has been filed before the Supreme Court under Article 32 alleging that Scheduled Caste families in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district have endured nearly two decades of caste-based discrimination, violence, social boycott and police inaction, with repeated representations to constitutional authorities failing to secure effective relief.
The petition, filed by Gulab Ram, invokes Articles 14, 17 and 21 of the Constitution and contends that the State has failed to discharge its constitutional obligation to protect members of the Scheduled Caste community from continuing atrocities and denial of equal protection of law.
According to the plea, residents of Village Maheshwara have for years been subjected to untouchability, caste-based abuse, intimidation, obstruction of access to public pathways, interference with civic amenities, destruction of property and denial of equal social status by members of the dominant caste community. The petitioner alleges that repeated complaints before the police, district administration, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and other authorities have failed to yield effective protection.
Tracing the atrocities back to 2008, the petition states that representations were submitted before the District Magistrate after the only access road to nearly ten Scheduled Caste households was allegedly blocked and residents were abused with caste slurs and prevented from using the public pathway. Criminal proceedings and a revision petition followed, but the petitioner claims the larger grievances remained unresolved.
The plea further alleges that before 2010, Scheduled Caste residents were prohibited from sitting on chairs or cots in the presence of dominant caste members and were subjected to humiliation, assault and social punishment for violating caste norms.
Referring to an incident of August 7, 2010, the petition claims that the petitioner and his family were subjected to harassment and caste-based violence, following which complaints were made to the local police. It alleges that despite the complaint, no effective action was taken and that retaliatory criminal proceedings were subsequently initiated against the victims.
The petition identifies January 18, 2014 as one of the gravest episodes of violence.
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“One of the most serious incidents allegedly occurred wherein armed members of the dominant caste community entered the Petitioner’s house and other Scheduled Caste households, abused residents by caste-based slurs, dug trenches around their houses, destroyed crops and plantations, looted valuables and household articles, cut trees and threatened the victims… victims were compelled to leave the village and take shelter with relatives due to fear and threats.”
Although an FIR was eventually registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the petitioner alleges that the names of principal accused were omitted and no meaningful investigation followed.
The petition also alleges that women belonging to the Scheduled Caste locality faced physical harassment and sexual intimidation, while residents were allegedly forced into labour, repeatedly assaulted and threatened with being burnt alive.
According to the plea, several constitutional authorities, including the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the Bihar State Scheduled Castes Commission, issued communications seeking action from the district administration and police. The National Commission directed the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police to appear before it during hearings and sought reports from the State authorities. However, the petitioner contends that these interventions did not translate into effective relief on the ground.
The petition further states that from 2014 onwards, Scheduled Caste residents continued to face intimidation, illegal occupation of land, obstruction of public pathways, harassment of women, denial of police protection and threats of false criminal implication. It also refers to representations made to the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission for Scheduled Castates and other constitutional authorities.
In support of the continuing nature of the alleged violations, the petitioner points to representations made in 2024 and 2026 regarding illegal occupation of land, as well as a letter written by Member of Parliament Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav to the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar highlighting the issue. The petition also refers to a representation submitted before the Chief Justice of India in May 2026, which, according to the petitioner, did not result in any proceedings.
Contending that the alleged violations constitute a continuing breach of Articles 14, 15, 17 and 21 of the Constitution and reflect a failure to effectively enforce the protections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the petitioner has sought the Supreme Court’s intervention to secure protection of the fundamental rights of the affected Scheduled Caste residents.