“Too Often Reduced To Sectional Emblem”: Madras High Court Directs State To Include Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s Life In School Curriculum
The Bench suo motu impleaded the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department.
Justice L. Victoria Gowri, Madras High Court, Madurai Bench
The Madras High Court, Madurai Bench observing that a towering national figure like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar should not be reduced to a sectional emblem or confined to the narrow prism of caste sentiment, has directed the Tamil Nadu government to introduce lessons on his scholarly achievements and his role in nation-building for students from Class III to Class X. The State is expected to implement this from the 2027-2028 academic year and must file a compliance report by January 21, 2027.
The Court noted that constitutional literacy must transition from a mere ornamental aspiration to a core component of the State’s social responsibility. Consequently, the Court held that the State must proactively nurture the seeds of justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity through the formal education system to ensure they endure in future generations.
Justice L. Victoria Gowri observed, “…are directed to take necessary policy steps, in accordance with law and administrative feasibility, to introduce appropriate lessons in the Social Science curriculum in the State syllabus, for students from Class III to Class X, on: (i) the role of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar as Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution of India; (ii) his contribution to the constitutional vision of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity; (iii) his role in the freedom movement and in democratic nation-building; and (iv) his scholarly achievements in the fields of economics, law and social thought”.
“The tragedy of our times lies in the shrinking of such a towering national figure into the cramped confines of caste-based perception. The larger-than-life personality of Dr. Ambedkar is too often reduced to a sectional emblem, when in truth he belongs to the whole nation”, the Bench categorically remarked.
Advocate N. Ananda Kumar appeared for the petitioners and M. Sakthi Kumar, Government Advocate appeared for the respondent.
The prosecution originated from an incident in 2018 at the Pulikuthi Bus Stand, where posters of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar were displayed to commemorate his birth anniversary.
It was alleged that the first petitioner tore a poster and urinated upon it, while the second petitioner recorded the act and circulated the video on a WhatsApp group named "Nallava Boys Group".
A complaint was subsequently lodged by the Town Secretary of Viduthalai Siruthai Katchi, leading to the registration of an FIR under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
The petitioners approached the High Court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings pending before the Special Court for PCR Act Cases, Sivagangai, on the grounds of a joint compromise memo entered with the de-facto complainant.
During the pendency of the petition, the Court issued an interim reformative order on December 19, 2025, directing the petitioners to purchase and distribute 101 books on Dr. Ambedkar's life to school students. The Court also required the petitioners to undergo an oral examination to prove their understanding of his contributions before considering the quashment.
The Court observed that while the inherent power under Section 528 of the BNSS (formerly Section 482 CrPC) allows quashing of non-compoundable offences based on compromise, cases with serious societal overtones require a restorative approach.
The Bench observed that the petitioners’ initial act was sustained by "ignorance of a colossal order". Justice Gowri noted that the judicial system must choose a reformative path for young offenders that insists upon accountability and education.
After the petitioners answered thirty questions satisfactorily in a camera proceeding and expressed genuine remorse, the Court found that the corrective purpose of the law had been achieved and that the possibility of conviction had become bleak due to the settlement.
The Court quashed the proceedings, incorporating the petitioners' compliance with the reformative directions as part of the final order. “…The law, in the peculiar facts of this case, has therefore achieved something beyond punishment; it has achieved understanding…”, it noted.
“…constitutional literacy is not an ornamental aspiration. It is part of the State’s social responsibility. A welfare State cannot confine itself to administration and infrastructure while neglecting civic education, constitutional memory and social ethics…The school system must not teach the Constitution merely as a set of dry institutional facts. It must teach the constitutional journey of India through the lives of those who shaped it. Among them, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar occupies a place of singular eminence. To know him is to understand why the Constitution insists upon equality. To study him is to understand why democracy must be social before it can remain political. To remember him is to remember that the Republic is a moral project, not merely a territorial arrangement”, the Bench noted.
“…He belongs equally to every classroom, every court, every institution of public learning, and every citizen who values dignity under law. The man who relentlessly contributed to the establishment of a State founded upon justice, liberty, equality and fraternity must never be imprisoned within the nooks and corners of public memory, nor confined only to local commemorations guarded against vandalism…”, it further noted..
Cause Title: G. Rajesh @ Rajeshkumar & Anr. v. The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors. Crl.O.P.(MD) No.22813 of 2025
Appearances:
Petitioners: N. Ananda Kumar, Advocate.
Respondents: S. Paul Murugan, Advocate, M. Muthu Manickam, M. Sakthi Kumar, Government Advocates.