Madras High Court. File
| Photo Credit: K. Pichumani
The Madras High Court on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) expressed dismay over the continued existence of caste appellations, such as ‘Pallar Street’, even after a series of Government Orders and judicial directions passed since 1978 to avoid caste references while naming streets and roads.
In his very first order passed after being elevated as a judge of the High Court, Justice N. Ramesh said, it was high time that the Tamil Nadu government ensured that judicial orders, as well as executive directions, were given effect to in letter and spirit by avoiding caste names in toto.
The judge came across the name ‘Pallar Street’ in a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Sendhamangalam police in Namakkal district during the hearing of a bail petition. He wondered how such a name could exist even in 2026.
The judge told State Public Prosecutor R. John Sathyan that a Government Order issued as far back in 1978 had insisted upon local bodies to identify caste appellations in the names of streets and roads and rename them. Further, the High Court, too, issued similar directions in 2018.
‘Serious consequences’
Justice Ramesh said, the naming of a street or a road after a caste has serious consequences as the residents of those places get identified by their caste and those names get reflected in every other official document, such as their ration cards, Aadhaar cards, driving licences, and so on.
Highlighting the constitutional imperative to create a casteless society, the judge said, it was in that direction that Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy of the High Court had recently ordered removal of caste appellations from the names of all schools and colleges spread across Tamil Nadu.
The judge said, the Tamil Nadu government had recently renamed the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department as Social Justice Department in order to avoid reference to a caste and said, the exercise would remain incomplete unless all caste appellations were removed completely from the names of streets and roads.
After deciding the bail petition on merits, the judge directed the High Court Registry to register a suo motu case with respect to the deletion of caste appellations from the names of streets and roads and place it before Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari for appropriate orders.
Once the Chief Justice decides the Bench before which the suo motu proceedings must be placed, the Chief Secretary could be directed to file a detailed status report on steps taken by the government to ensure there was 100% deletion of caste appellations from road names.
Published – August 11, 2026 12:09 pm IST
