The government has announced that it will carry out a public 12 week consultation on the subject of caste discrimination and the Equality Act 2010.

At present, caste discrimination, a social hierarchy rooted primarily in Hindu society, is not expressly prohibited by discrimination legislation. Employment Tribunals have taken the approach that a claim for discrimination based on caste can proceed under current law as it may fall within the scope of race discrimination. However, this will depend on the individual circumstances of the case and not all victims of caste discrimination will be entitled to a remedy.

The main purpose of the consultation is to understand the public’s views on whether more measures are required to guarantee that victims of caste discrimination have the appropriate protection and remedies under the Equality Act. The government will consider the responses to the consultation before it makes any decisions. The commencement date has not yet been revealed, but we will keep you updated when it is announced.