The Karnataka government on Thursday, December 11, tabled the Karnataka Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2025, in the Legislative Assembly, aiming to curb what it terms “evil practices” of social boycott, discrimination and imposition of social disabilities by caste or community panchayats.
The government noted that, despite constitutional protections, extrajudicial bodies such as caste and community panchayats continue to impose punishments and boycotts across communities in the state.
“These practices result in great harassment to individuals or groups in leading their lives with dignity,” the Bill states. The government argues that existing laws have proved inadequate in addressing these issues.
Unlike the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, which criminalises social boycott specifically when it targets people from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, defining it as the denial of customary services, social relations or access to public spaces, the proposed Social Boycott Bill seeks to create a broader legal framework.
Under the Atrocities Act, social boycott is recognised as a form of systemic caste discrimination and is punishable with six months to five years of imprisonment.
The new Bill, however, notes that the inhuman practice of social boycott continues in various parts of the State and violates fundamental rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution. It aims to prohibit the social boycott of any person or group, including their family members, addressing forms of exclusion imposed by caste panchayats, religious groups, or community bodies.
According to the Bill, “Victim means an individual who has suffered or experienced physical or monetary harm or harm to his property as a result of the commission of social boycott and includes his relatives, legal guardian and legal heirs.”
Piloted by Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa, the Bill identifies 20 forms of social boycott, ranging from denial of work opportunities to obstructing individuals from observing social or religious customs. It proposes punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh for offenders.
Under the Bill, acts constituting social boycott include refusal to work with or hire a person, denial of access to services or contractual opportunities, obstructing individuals from performing marriages, funerals or religious rites, and acts that lead to social ostracism. Preventing access to community spaces, schools, hospitals, burial grounds or places of worship maintained by one’s community also falls under the definition.
The Bill further covers discrimination on grounds such as morality, social acceptance, political inclination or sexuality, imposing cultural restrictions such as compelling any member of his community to wear any particular type of clothes or use any specific language, expelling a member from the community, or any similar act amounting to social boycott.
Those who provoke or encourage others to sever social, religious, professional or business ties with a community member, or those who vote in favour of such decisions in a body such as a caste panchayat, will also be treated as offenders.
Victims of social boycott may file complaints with the police or directly before a judicial first-class magistrate, who is empowered to intervene and grant relief. The Bill also provides for the appointment of a Social Boycott Prohibition Officer tasked with detecting offences and assisting the magistrate.
On the same day, the government also introduced the Greater Bengaluru Governance (Second Amendment) Bill in the Assembly. The amendment seeks to include Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, MLAs and MLCs as members of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). The chief secretary and the heads of the urban development and finance departments will also become members of the GBA under the proposed changes.