AIM & OBJECTIVES

The objective of the project is :-

1. To define what Right to Equality means.

2. To discuss various aspects of Right to equality.

3. To categorize Right to equality into various references.

4. To define what Role does Right to Equality plays in a country like India.

Research Methodology

For covering all the sources of the topic , Doctrinal research as well as Empirical research are
used. Doctrinal Research which is known as Library based Research focuses on a reading and
analysis of the primary and secondary data. When reviewing a number of text books to the
relevant of the topic , the bulk of their contents are concerned with identifying and analyzing the
sources which help for making the assignment.

Research Questions

1. What does Right to Equality means.

2.What are the various aspects of Right to Equality.

1
 Right to Equality under Indian Constitution

Introduction

Equality originates from aequalis, aequus and aequalitas. These are all old French or Latin
words. These French/Latin words mean even, level and equal. In general term, equality means
full equality of treatment and reward for all. It is needed as natural equality. It is thought that all
men are born natural and free. Nevertheless, despite a strong emotional appeal to hearts of
people, the concept of natural and absolute equality of all cannot be fully acknowledged and
realised. Men are neither equal in respect of their physical features nor in respect of their mental
capabilities. Some are stronger others weaker and some are more intelligent and capable than
others.

Many theorists defined equality in their own way:

According to D.D Raphall, "The Right to Equality proper is a right of equal satisfaction of basic
human needs, including the need to develop and use capacities which are specifically human."

Laski described that "Equality means that no man shall be so placed in society that he can over-
reach his neighbour to the extent which constitutes a denial of latter's citizenship." Barker opined
that "Equality means equal rights for all the people and the abolition of all special rights and
privileges".

G. Sartori explained that "equality has so many facets and so many implications that after we
have examined it from all angles we are left with a feeling of not having really mastered it."

Therefore, as a whole, equality does not mean absolute equality in all spheres and to every
person. It does not aim at identity of treatment as intellectual and physical capacity varies. It

2
opposes inequitable treatment. It means complete and absolute equality at the bottom most level
and then equal opportunity to develop one's inner potentiality.

Contemporary notion of political authority was innovated by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke,
two English thinkers of the seventeenth century. These two intellectuals proclaimed the natural
equality of human beings. Hobbes and Locke imagined human beings in a "state of nature" and
explained why they would enter into a social contract with each other for their mutual benefit.
Out of this contract came government, which was established for the protection of citizens and
endowed with powers commensurate to that end. On this account, government derived its
authority from the consent of the governed, not the natural superiority of a ruling class.

Neither Hobbes nor Locke concluded that people ought to rule themselves once government was
established, however. Hobbes argued that people should submit to an autonomous with absolute
powers, while Locke believed they would implicitly accept constitutional kingdom, reserving the
right to rebel against unjust governments. Thus, each man insisted on natural equality but
stopped short of recommending political equality.

Equality has three Basic elements:

a. Absence of special privileges in society.

b. Presence of adequate and equal opportunities for development of all.
c. Equal satisfaction of basic needs of all.

Fundamental Rights

Fundamental rights are those rights which are essential for intellectual, moral and spiritual
development of individuals. As these rights are fundamental or essential for existence and all-
round development of individuals ,hence called as 'Fundamental' rights. These are enshrined in
Part III (Articles 12 to 35) of the Constitution of India. These include individual rights common
to most liberal democracies, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and expression,
religious and cultural freedom, peaceful assembly, freedom to practice religion, and the right
to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as Habeas
Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo Warranto.1

1
Lawnn.com

3
Fundamental rights apply universally to all citizens, irrespective of race, birthplace,
religion, caste or gender. The Indian Penal Code (I.P.C.) and other laws prescribe punishments
for the violation of these rights, subject to the discretion of the judiciary. Though the rights
conferred by the constitution other than fundamental rights are also valid rights protected by the
judiciary, in case of fundamental rights violations, the Supreme Court of India can be approached
directly for ultimate justice as per Article 32. 

Right to Equality

Right to equality is one of the six fundamental rights under the Indian constitution. It includes
equality before law , prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed, sex and
place of birth . It also includes equality of opportunities in matters of employment, abolition of
untouchability and titles.

In simple words we can say that it is the right to live with equal opportunities. It simply treats all
people to be the same and nobody can get special privileges which will dishonour any individual
or group. As per Article 14 of Indian Constitution , it guarantees that all people shall be equally
protected by the laws of the country. The state will treat people in the same circumstances alike.
Right to equality not only applies to the citizens of India but also to all the people within the
territory of India.

Right to Equality ensures equal rights for all the citizens. The Right to Equality
prohibits inequality on the basis of caste, religion, place of birth, race, or gender. It also
ensures equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and prevents the State from
discriminating against anyone in matters of employment on the grounds only of religion, race, caste,
sex, descent, place of birth, place of residence or any of them.

Every citizen, from PM to an ordinary individual, is subjected to the same laws . All citizens have
access to public places like shops , restaurants , hotels , multiplexes . Similarly , no restriction with
regards to the use of wells ,bathing ghats , roads , playgrounds and places of public resort maintained
by the government . Law should neither be arbitrary nor should grant any privilege.

It is in the fields of political and economic equality that India is still groping in uncertainty. What
is political equality? Is it nothing more than the right of a person to send l/700000th "part of his

4
tongue to the national debating club?" The modern view of political equality based on universal
adult suffrage permits the pre- dominance of certain individuals over others in the actual work of
governing. It is believed that the 'best mind' do exercise a greater influence than the apathetic and
politically inert ones.

Where is the equality before the law between a rich litigant engaging the leading lawyer in the
city to plead for him, and his adversary who must go undefended unless the court engages a
counsel for him? One man sends the duffer of a son for specialised training abroad. Another
cannot afford to educate his child upto the third standard. Where is the political equality between
the two? The unavoidable result is the development of a feeling of abject inferiority in the large
majority of the less favoured ones, a thing conducive to the stabilization of the tyranny of the
dominant few. Another factor which contributes towards perpetuating inequalities is the tacit
acknowledgment of certain professions and certain kinds of work as dignified and noble and
others as degrading. All these have to be removed from the heart of man and the institutions of
his making before genuine equality can be attained.2

Equality of outcome ( the most controversial manifestation of equality) means that there is an
equal distribution of income, wealth and other social goods, its supporters argue that it promotes
justice and community; its detractors view it as 'leveling downwards' and a form of social
engineering. In a culturally homogenous society, individual share broadly similar need, norms,
motivations, social customs and patterns of behavior. Equal rights here mean more or less the
same rights, and equal treatment involves more or less identical treatment. Equality therefore, is
relatively easy to define and apply. Equality exists in equal treatment of those judged to be equal
in relevant respects. In a culturally diverse society citizens are likely to disagree on what respects
are relevant in a given context, what response is appropriate to them, and what counts as their
equal treatment. Furthermore, once we take cultural differences into account, equal treatment
would mean not identical but differential treatment, raising the question as to how we can ensure
that it is really equal across cultures and does not serve as a cloak for discrimination or
privilege.3

Categorization of Right to Equality in different references

2
Kutti Amma, Janki ,Right to Equality, Pg no. 60
3
Competing Equality: Caste In Indian Politics by Shilpa Tripathi

5
  With reference to caste

The caste system is rooted in, and constitutes a further proliferation of, the four-varna
system of ancient India comprising the brahmins (priestly class), the kshatriyas (warrior
class), and the two classes of workers recruited largely from conquered tribes: the
vaishyas (artisans and other producers), and the shudras (menial labourers). It is an
arrangement of hierarchically organized endogamous groups, each consisting of persons
belonging to a particular occupation that is carried on in a hereditary manner. It is also
associated with abhorrent practices like 'untouchability' and 'unseeability', which presume
that a person from the 'upper castes' gets 'polluted' just by touching or even setting eyes
on someone from the 'menial' castes. People from these 'menial' castes were traditionally
debarred from owning anything. Supply of labour for the 'upper caste' landowners was
always available, in a situation where cultivable land existed outside the village premises
and would have otherwise pulled labourers away to cultivate on their own.

Colonial rule introduced the formal idea of equality (equality before law) into this society
of institutionalised social and economic inequality. But it also generated new forms of
inequality in the material sense, via the destruction of domestic handicraft industry by the
import of metro politan goods ('de-industrialization') and the appropriation gratis of local
commodities by the metropolis (using locally-raised tax revenue to pay for them, a
process called the 'drain of surplus'), which worsened the material conditions of the
'lower' castes. It is the anti-colonial struggle (which paralleled a struggle for social
emancipation in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries and was affected by
it) that led to the adoption of a Constitution, after independence, which supplemented
formal equality before law, with democratic governance through elections based on
universal adult suffrage, and affirmative action in the form of ‘reservations’ for certain
'scheduled castes' and 'scheduled tribes' (Dalits) in the legislatures and government
institutions. Reservations were later extended to some outer backward' castes as well.4

 With reference to Gender

4
Social Scientist by Prabhat Patnaik ,Pg no.73

6
 Gender activism is essentially about 'equal opportunities' between women and men in
terms of rights to and control over resources. Clearly, gender inequality in relation to
opportunities and resources owes more to culture than to nature. Thus gender activism is
a political project meant to 'right' the culturally determined privations of one social sector
- women - in order that they have the same life chances as another group in the same
society – men.5 Indian constitution simply states that no distinctions should be made on
the basis of gender in matters of public employment & other general opportunities.

 With reference to Religion

Is equality of religion even possible in a land where, according to some experts, there are
as many as 3,000 identifiable religions? How does the separation of temple or church and
state impact the goal of achieving equality in religion? If equality of religion is our goal,
or at least part of our goal, are we succeeding in achieving this goal?6

The discussion about how to treat religion under the Constitution was robust and
complex, but in the end it resulted in a basic provision which is reflected in the article 15
of the Indian constitution which states that “The State shall not discriminate against any
citizen on grounds of religion”.

 With reference to employment

When it comes to Equality in terms of employment , the crux of “Right to Equality” is
applied as the article 15 states that “No citizen shall be discriminated on the basis of
religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them in matters of public employment. It
is not like the ancient time when a particular cast or a particular varna could not do job
which was superior to their status. Nor the discrimination on the basis of gender is
possible .If a women is eligible for a job then she can get it and also if a person is born in
a particular state of India then he or she cannot be denied for a job in some other state on
the basis of the place of their birth.

5
Gender equality - whose agenda? Observations from Cameroon by Rogers Tabe Egbe Orock
6
Religious equality in the American National Order by Derek h. Davis

7
Conclusion
The principle of equality embodied in the Constitution forms the bedrock of our democratic
setup. In an incredibly diverse society like India, the values like social justice, equality, liberty
and fraternity cherished by the Constitution act as the binding force. The Indian judiciary has
been and continues to uphold these core values for the collective advancement of the society and
ensuring justice for every individual. Our visionary forefathers effortlessly gave us what other
societies in the world had to fight and shed blood for. For example, the Indian Constitution gives
us the right to vote equally regardless of gender unlike many progressive western countries
where women had to fight to get this right. They made sure that the new India is free from the
dark shadows of past. Right to equality ensures equal treatment for one and all. And it restricts
the powers of the state and is an very important tool for the citizens of India.