Eduqo
Indian Polity & Constitution›Ch 2: Rights & Duties›Right to Equality (Articles 14-18)
Master the core constitutional guarantees of justice, reservation, and anti-discrimination.
Articles 14 to 18 guarantee equality before law, equal protection, abolish untouchability and titles, while enabling reservations for advancement.
Smart Memory Hooks
| Article | Core Subject | Key Exception / Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Article 14 | Equality before law | President immunity (Art 361) |
| Article 15 | No discrimination | Special provisions for women/SC/ST |
| Article 16 | Public employment | Reservations & EWS quota |
| Article 17 & 18 | Abolition | Untouchability & Titles banned |
Rule of Law
(Dicey V.C. doctrine)
Dicey V.C. doctrine
No one is above the ordinary law of the land.
Art 15(3)
(Women & Children)
Women & Children
State can make special provisions for women.
Art 16(4)
(Backward Classes)
Backward Classes
Enables job reservations for inadequately represented groups.
Bharat Ratna
(National Awards)
National Awards
Permitted under Art 18, but cannot be used as prefixes.
Right to Equality applies only to Indian citizens.Applies to both citizens and foreigners (except Art 15,16).
Articles 14, 20, 21 apply to non-citizens too, but 15 and 16 are citizen-exclusive.
Bharat Ratna and Padma awards violate Article 18.Supreme Court ruled they are national honors, not titles.
Balaji Raghavan case (1996) upheld national awards provided they are not prefixed to names.
Private institutions cannot be asked to provide reservations.93rd Amendment allows reservations in private educational institutions.
Article 15(5) permits special provisions for socially backward classes in private schools/colleges.
Q1.Which article of the Indian Constitution empowers Parliament to prescribe residence requirements for public employment?
Q2.The concept of 'Equality before Law' in Article 14 is borrowed from the constitution of which country?