“Sikhs constitute racial group protected from indirect discrimination in schools”
Gurinder Singh Mandla, a Sikh boy, was refused entry to Park Grove School because he wore a turban in violation of the school's uniform policy requiring no headwear. His father brought proceedings under the Race Relations Act 1976. The Court of Appeal initially found that Sikhs were not a racial group within the meaning of the Act.
Whether Sikhs constitute a 'racial group' within the meaning of the Race Relations Act 1976 and whether the school's uniform policy constituted unlawful indirect racial discrimination.
The House of Lords held that Sikhs do constitute a racial group under the Race Relations Act 1976 and that the school's policy constituted indirect racial discrimination.
This case established the legal framework for determining what constitutes a 'racial group' under anti-discrimination law and confirmed that indirect discrimination occurs when apparently neutral policies disproportionately affect protected groups. It remains the leading authority on racial group classification in UK discrimination law.
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OSCOLA Citation
Mandla v Dowell Lee [1983] 2 AC 548 (HL)
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