The idea shapes the narrative that caste-based reservations are holding back development more than caste-based discrimination itself.

“Punishment given to any person should have been reformative and not prejudicial,” the court said.

While dismissing an anticipatory bail petition, the High Court expanded the scope of the Act, noting that "viewership has evolved in the digital age."

"Even if it [is] assumed that 01:30 a.m. is too late, then also w[a]ndering on the street is not an offence when there is no night curfew."

The marital rape exemption leads to women being “treated as a subordinate to the husband, which concept abhors equality,” the court said.

“[Such behavior] is anathema to a civilized and cultured force and are the relic of the colonial subjugatory tactics.”