Madras High Court, while considering a compromise plea in the 2018 Ambedkar poster desecration case, ensured genuine remorse from both youths. It also directed the State to include Ambedkar’s life history and achievements in the school curriculum from 2027–2028.
A joint compromise plea aimed at quashing a criminal case arising from the 2018 desecration of a wall poster of social reformer Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in Sivaganga by two youths was given a distinctive outcome by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
Along with ensuring that both accused parties demonstrated genuine remorse, the court also ordered the State government to bring Ambedkar’s life history and achievements into the school curriculum from the academic year 2027–2028 onward.
Justice L. Victoria Gowri, who passed the order, noted that during questioning, the two youths aged 26 and 29 appeared only vaguely aware that Ambedkar was a legal figure, but lacked a meaningful understanding of his life and the contributions he made to Indian society.
She opined,
“Dr B R Ambedkar cannot be viewed through the narrow prism of caste sentiment alone. He belongs to the constitutional soul of India. To insult his image is not merely an offence to a section of people; it amounts to exhibiting indifference towards the very values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity on which the Republic is founded,”
To help the accused internalize this perspective, the judge, on December 19, 2025, directed each of the two men to purchase 101 copies of a Tamil book dealing with Ambedkar’s life story. They were instructed to read the book themselves, keep one copy each, and distribute the remaining 100 copies among Class X, XI and XII students at Murugappa Government Higher Secondary School in T. Kallupatti.
They were also required to submit an acknowledgment from the school’s headmaster, with the court additionally planning an oral test to confirm whether they had genuinely read and understood the leader’s contributions.
The court further ordered them to pay Rs.5,000 each to the Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai.
When the matter was revisited in January, the court conducted an oral assessment of the youths in camera, using 30 questions.
After being satisfied that the process had led to real reflection and that the accused showed visible shame and remorse, Justice Gowri allowed the compromise and quashed the criminal case by accepting the settlement reached between the youths and the complainant.
The court further emphasized that constitutional literacy should not be treated as a symbolic or optional objective, but as part of the State’s social obligation.
Accordingly, the judge directed the Chief Secretary and the School Education Secretary to ensure that Ambedkar’s life history, his role in drafting the Constitution, and aspects of the freedom movement, among other components, are included in the curriculum for Class III to X students under the State syllabus.
The judge observed,
“The true tribute to Dr Ambedkar lies not merely in statues and ceremonies, but in ensuring that every child in this state knows why he matters to India,”
The court posted the case to January 21, 2027, directing the government to submit a report on the measures taken to comply with the court’s directions.