We have already read article 14 which talks about ‘equality before law’ and ‘equal protection of law’. Article 15 is a mix of both and elaborates the grounds on which discrimination is prohibited.
Let’s find this out in detail.
Article 15 : Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth.
The current article safeguards our rights to equality through the following points:
The State shall not not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. This is related to a state action.
No person shall be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to the following on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. This is related to both the State as well as private bodies :
Access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment
The use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partially out of state funds or dedicated to the use of general public.
Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making any special provision for women and children.
Nothing in this article or clause (2) of article 29 ( given below ) shall prevent the state from making any special provision for the advancement of the following:
Any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens (SEBC).
Schedule Castes (SC).
Schedule Tribes (ST).
Nothing in this article or sub clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 (given below) shall prevent the state from making any special provision for the advancement of all the classes mentioned in clause (4) above. Such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the state, other than minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.
Thus we see that the clause (1) and clause (2) of the article 15 is based on the principle of ‘equality before the law’ while clause (3), (4) & (5) is based on the principle of ‘equal protection of the laws’
Moreover, clause (1) of article is enforceable against the state as it covers the actions of the state which are expected to be non-discriminatory. While, clause (2) is enforceable against ‘the state’ as well as ‘private bodies’ as it involves the rights related to the accessibility of the places and utility of the services dedicated to the general public.
For example, even if a shop is owned by a private body, no person can be denied to its access on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place or birth.
It is also important to note that the word “only” prohibits discrimination “on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place or birth and discrimination on other grounds is not prohibited under this article.
You also read that in clause (2) that no person shall be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition.
Let’s understand all these four terms through an example for each.
Disability : A certain class of people are completely not allowed to access a place or utilise a service dedicated to the general public.
Liability : Collection of a fee from only a certain class of people for use of a public well.
Restriction : A certain class of people are restricted to collect only a kilogram of rice from a shop.
Condition : A condition is imposed over a certain class of people that they are allowed to a bathing ghat only after all the other classes have taken bath.
Now, let’s understand other clauses mentioned above in article 15.
Clause (2) of article 29 : No citizen shall be denied admission to any educational institution maintained by the state or receiving aid out of the state funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.
While clause (2) of article 29 prohibits any discrimination in admission to any educational institution maintained by the state or receiving aid out of the state funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them, clause (4) of article 15 gives the state power to make any special provision for the advancement of the people mentioned in the said clause. Here, clause (4) of article 15 supersedes clause (2) of article 29.
Sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 : 1. All citizens have the right (g) to practice any profession , or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
Thus the above mentioned clause gives the right to the private bodies to run educational institutions. This could restrict the state in exercising its control over the admission to private educational institutions.Therefore, clause 5 of article 15 was inserted through 93rd amendment Act, 2005 to allow the state to make any provision in this regard for the advancement of SEBC, SC and ST. Please, read clause 5 of article 15 given above again to find a correlation.
Hope you liked the information shared.
Please share your feedback on the below mentioned email id:
contact@theindiansearchlight.com
www.theindiansearchlight.com
PS : The above texts are ‘not the exact texts’ copied from the Constitution of India.They have been modified in simple language for the ease of understanding. Due consideration has been given to ensure that ‘the spirit and the meaning’, as contained in the Constitution, remains the same. Please refer to the Constitution of India for the original texts. Please feel free to point out any discrepancy that comes across you. We shall be happy to modify the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment