Constitution Law

Right to Equality: Provisions Under the Indian Constitution

Articles 14 to 18 of indian constitution contains all the provisions related to
the Right to Equality.

Article 14 : Equality before Law and Equal Protection of Laws

• This provision mandates that the State shall not deny to any person
Equality before the Law or the Equal Protection of the Laws within the
territory of India.
• This right is extended to citizens, foreigners as well as legal persons
such as companies.
Equality before Law

• The concept of ‘Equality before Law’ is of British origin, which

connotes-
o the absence of any special privileges in favor of any person,
o the equal subjection of all persons to the ordinary law of the
land,
o no person is above the law.
Equal Protection of Laws

• The concept of ‘Equal Protection of Laws’ has been taken from

the American Constitution. It connotes-
o equality of treatment under equal circumstances, both in the privileges
conferred and liabilities imposed by the laws,
o the similar application of the same laws to all persons who are similarly
situated,
o the like should be treated alike without any discrimination.

Rule of Law

• The concept of ‘Rule of Law’, as propounded by the British jurist A V

Dicey, has the following 3 elements:
o Absence of arbitrary power i.e. no man can be punished except
for a breach of law.
 o Equality before law i.e. equal subjection of all citizens to the
laws of the land.
o The primacy of the rights of the individual i.e. constitution is the
result of the rights of the individual as defined and enforced by
the courts of law, rather than the constitution being the source
of the individual rights.
• The following three points are to be noted w.r.t. the concept of ‘Rule
of Law’:
o The concept of ‘Equality before Law’ is an element of the
concept of ‘Rule of Law’.
o In the case of the Indian system, only the 1st and 2nd elements
of the ‘Rule of Law’ are applicable, and not the 3rd one. This is
because, in India, the constitution is the source of the
individual rights.
o The Supreme Court has ruled that the ‘Rule of Law’ as
embodied in Article 14 is a ‘basic feature’ of the constitution,
and hence cannot be destroyed by a constitutional
amendment.

Exceptions to Equality
The rule of equality before the law has certain exceptions. These
exceptions are mentioned below:
• As ruled by the Supreme Court, while Article 14 forbids class
legislation, it permits the reasonable classification of persons,
objects, and transactions by law. However, the classification should
not be arbitrary, artificial, or evasive.
• As per Article 361, the President of India and the Governor of States
enjoy certain immunities.
• As per Article 361-A, no person shall be liable for any proceedings in
any court for publication of a true report of any proceedings of
Parliament or State Legislature.
• Article 105 provides that no member of Parliament shall be liable to
any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote
given in Parliament or any committee thereof. Article 194 makes a
similar provision for members of the State Legislature.
 • Article 31-C provides that laws made by the state for implementing
DPSPs contained in Article 39 (b) and (c) cannot be challenged on
the grounds of being violative of Article 14.
• Immunity to foreign sovereigns, ambassadors, and diplomats from
criminal and civil proceedings.
• UNO and its agencies also enjoy diplomatic immunity from certain
proceedings.

Article 15 : Prohibition of Discrimination on Certain Grounds

• Article 15 provides that:
o The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds
only of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
o No citizen shall be subjected to any disability, liability,
restriction, or condition on grounds only of religion, race, case,
sex, or place of birth w.r.t. access to public places.
• Two things are to be noted w.r.t. these provisions:
o The first provision prohibits discrimination only by the state,
while the second provision prohibits discrimination both by
the state and private individuals.
o The crucial term here is ‘only’, which connotes that
discrimination on grounds other than those mentioned in the
provisions is not prohibited.
• There are certain exceptions to this general rule of non-
discrimination as mentioned below:
o The state is authorized to enact special provisions for the
benefit of women and children, such as reserving seats in local
bodies or providing free education for children.
o The state is empowered to enact special measures for the
advancement of socially and educationally backward classes,
as well as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes such as seat
reservations or fee concessions in public educational
institutions.
 o The state has the authority to enact special measures for the
advancement of socially and educationally backward classes,
scheduled castes, or scheduled tribes in matters of admission
to educational institutions, including private ones, whether
aided or unaided by the state, excluding minority educational
institutions.
o The state is empowered to enact special measures for the
advancement of economically weaker sections of society.
Additionally, the state may reserve up to 10% of seats for such
sections in educational institutions, excluding minority
educational institutions.
A. This reservation is in addition to existing reservations and is
determined based on family income and other indicators of
economic disadvantage, as notified by the state.

Article 16 : Equality of Opportunity in Public Employment

• This provision provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in
matters of employment or appointment to any office under the
State.
• The citizens cannot be discriminated against or be ineligible for any
employment or office under the State only on the grounds of
religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, or residence.
• There exist four exceptions to the overarching principle of equal
opportunity in public employment. These exceptions are as follows:
o Parliament may prescribe residence as a condition for certain
employment positions under the State, Union Territory, Local
Authority, or other authority.
o The State can provide for the reservation of appointments or
posts in favor of the backward classes that are inadequately
represented in the state services.
o A law can provide that certain religious institutions or
denominations may require officeholders to belong to a
particular religion or denomination.
 o The state can reserve up to 10% of appointments for
economically weaker sections, in addition to existing
reservations, based on criteria such as family income or other
indicators of economic disadvantage.
A. This reservation has been added by the 103rd Amendment
Act of 2019.

Article 17 : Abolition of Untouchability

• This provision has abolished ‘untouchability’ and forbids its practice
in any form.
• Any act enforcing disability based on untouchability shall be deemed
as an offense punishable by law.
• Untouchability refers to social disabilities imposed on certain
classes of persons because of their birth in certain castes. Hence, it
does not cover the social boycott of a few individuals or their
exclusions from religious services, etc.
• However, the term ‘untouchability’ has not been defined in the
Constitution or the Protection of Civil Rights Act of 1955 (the act
enacted to enforce this provision).

Article 18 : Abolition of Titles

• Article 18 of the Indian Constitution deals with the abolition of titles
and distinctions. It consists of four provisions:
o It prohibits the state from granting any title, except for military
or academic distinctions, to any individual, whether a citizen or
a foreigner.
o It prohibits Indian citizens from accepting titles from any
foreign state.
o A foreigner holding any office of profit or trust under the state
cannot accept titles from any foreign state without the
President’s consent.
 o Neither citizens nor foreigners holding any office of profit or
trust under the State are allowed to accept any gift, salary, or
position from or under any foreign state without the President’s
consent.
• Two things are to be noted w.r.t. these provisions:
o Hereditary titles of nobility e.g. Maharaja, Deewan, etc which
were conferred by colonial states are banned by this Article.
o National Awards e.g. Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma
Bhushan, and Padma Sri are not banned by this Article.
However, they should not be used as suffixes or prefixes to the
names of awardees. Otherwise, they should forfeit the awards.