Article 15 of the Indian Constitution: prohibition of discrimination explained

The core ban in clauses (1) and (2)

Article 15 sits in the Right to Equality group in Part III, between the general equality guarantee of Article 14 and equality of opportunity in public employment in Article 16. Clause (1) is aimed at the State: it shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them.

Clause (2) goes further than a ban on state action. It says no citizen shall, on those same grounds only, be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition regarding access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment, or the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly from State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public. Note the word 'only': the ban targets discrimination based solely on the listed grounds.

Why special provisions are not discrimination

Clauses (3) to (6) are exceptions that let the State make special provisions for groups that need them. Clause (3) covers women and children. Clause (4) covers socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and was added by the First Amendment after the Supreme Court's decision in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan.

Clause (5), added by the Ninety-third Amendment, extends such special provisions to admission to educational institutions, including private institutions whether aided or unaided, other than minority institutions under Article 30(1). Clause (6), added by the One Hundred and Third Amendment, enables special provisions for economically weaker sections other than the classes in clauses (4) and (5), including reservation up to 10 per cent of seats in the specified admission cases, in addition to existing reservations.

Article 15 vs Article 14: the exam distinction

Article 14 and Article 15 are easy to confuse, but the difference is simple. Article 14 is a general guarantee of equality before the law and equal protection of the laws, and it applies to every person. Article 15 is a specific ban on discrimination against citizens on five listed grounds, plus a guarantee of access to public places.

Two more exam points follow from that. First, because Article 15 names citizens, its protection does not extend to non-citizens in the way Article 14 does. Second, Article 15 does not ban all differential treatment: the Constitution itself authorises the special provisions in clauses (3) to (6), so a law made for women, children, backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, or economically weaker sections is not automatically discrimination under Article 15.

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