Articles 15 and 16: non-discrimination, protective discrimination and reservation
LUG-104 Constitutional Law-I, Unit II: Right to equality (Articles 14 to 18). · LLB · 60 min
Articles 15 and 16 turn the general guarantee of Article 14 into specific prohibitions of discrimination and, through their enabling clauses, into the constitutional basis of reservation. This lecture reads both Articles clause by clause, traces the First Amendment from Champakam Dorairajan, explains M.R. Balaji, Devadasan and the carry-forward rule, gives Indra Sawhney (Mandal) in detail with its holdings on the 50 per cent ceiling, creamy layer and promotion, follows the 77th, 81st and 85th Amendments through M. Nagaraj and Jarnail Singh, and ends with the 93rd Amendment (Ashoka Kumar Thakur) and the 103rd Amendment on EWS (Janhit Abhiyan). Reservation is asked in every paper.
Objectives
- Explain the clauses of Articles 15 and 16, their grounds and the meaning of 'only'.
- Explain protective discrimination and the constitutional provisions on which reservation rests.
- State the holdings of Indra Sawhney and explain the creamy layer and the carry-forward rule with their current status.
- Explain reservation in promotion through Articles 16(4A) and 16(4B), M. Nagaraj and Jarnail Singh.
- Explain the 93rd and 103rd Amendments and the decisions upholding them.
Slides
- Article 15: the text and the word 'only'
- Article 15(3) to (6): the enabling clauses
- Champakam Dorairajan (1951) and the First Amendment
- Article 16: equality of opportunity in public employment
- M.R. Balaji (1963), Devadasan (1964) and the carry-forward rule
- Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992): the Mandal Commission case
- The creamy layer: nature and importance
- Reservation in promotion: 77th, 81st, 85th Amendments, M. Nagaraj (2006), Jarnail Singh (2018)
- The 103rd Amendment and EWS: Janhit Abhiyan (2022); other recent developments
- Protective discrimination: justification and critique
- How the examiner asks it
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