The above direction came about pursuant to an order passed by the Supreme Court on 10.01.2024 (passed in Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 1957 of 2023 in the case of Shama Sharma v/s. Kishan Kumar), whereby directions were issued to ensure that the caste or religion of parties shall not be mentioned in the memo of parties of a petition/proceeding filed before the Courts.

In compliance with the same, Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal issued a notification on January 31 ordering that caste or religion of a litigant shall not be mentioned in the memo of parties in any petition filed before the High Court.

The circular stated, “Therefore, the Honourable the Chief Justice has been pleased to direct that henceforth, the caste or religion of a litigant shall not be mentioned in the memo of parties in any petition/suit/ proceeding filed before the High Court of Gujarat, irrespective of whether any such details have been furnished before the Courts below. All the learned Advocate(s) / Government Pleader(s) / Public-Prosecutor(s)/Party-in- Person(s) are directed to comply accordingly.”

“the Registry of this High Court shall not raise objection with regard to not mentioning the caste/religion of the litigants in any petition/suit/proceeding filed before the High Court of Gujarat, though the caste/religion of the parties are mentioned in the proceeding before the court below and entry of the caste/religion shall not be made in the computer software,” the Chief Justice further directed.

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