Article 15 and 25 of Constitution

Article 15 and 25 of Constitution

Subject – Polity

Context – Articles 15 and 25 ‘sold off ’, says Rahul

Concept –

• Article 15 –
  • Article 15 provides that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
  • The two crucial words in this provision are ‘discrimination’ and ‘only’.
  • The word ‘discrimination’ means ‘to make an adverse distinction with regard to’ or ‘to distinguish unfavourably from others’.
  • The use of the word ‘only’ connotes that discrimination on other grounds is not prohibited.
  • The second provision of Article 15 says that no citizen shall be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth with regard to
  • (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
  • (b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, road and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly by State funds or dedicated to the use of general public.
  • This provision prohibits discrimination both by the State and private individuals, while the former provision prohibits discrimination only by the State.
  • There are three exceptions to this general rule of non-discrimination:
  • (a) The state is permitted to make any special provision for women and children. For example, reservation of seats for women in local bodies or provision of free education for children.
  • (b) The state is permitted to make any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. For example, reservation of seats or fee concessions in public educational institutions.
  • (c) The state is empowered to make any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes or the scheduled tribes regarding their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the state, except the minority educational institutions.
  • The last provision was added by the 93 rd Amendment Act of 2005. In order to give effect to this provision, the Centre enacted the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, providing a quota of 27% for candidates belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in all central higher educational institutions including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). In April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of both, the Amendment Act and the OBC Quota Act. But, the Court directed the central government to exclude the ‘creamy layer’ (advanced sections) among the OBCs while implementing the law.
• Article 25–
  • Article 25 says that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. The implications of these are:
  • (a) Freedom of conscience: Inner freedom of an individual to mould his relation with God or Creatures in whatever way he desires.
  • (b) Right to profess: Declaration of one’s religious beliefs and faith openly and freely.
  • (c) Right to practice: Performance of religious worship, rituals, ceremonies and exhibition of beliefs and ideas.
  • (d) Right to propagate: Transmission and dissemination of one’s religious beliefs to others or exposition of the tenets of one’s religion. But, it does not include a right to convert another person to one’s own religion. Forcible conversions impinge on the ‘freedom of conscience’ guaranteed to all the persons alike.
  • From the above, it is clear that Article 25 covers not only religious beliefs (doctrines) but also religious practices (rituals). Moreover, these rights are available to all persons—citizens as well as non-citizens.
  • However, these rights are subject to public order, morality, health and other provisions relating to fundamental rights. Further, the State is permitted to:
  • (a) regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or other secular activity associated with religious practice; and
  • (b) provide for social welfare and reform or throw open Hindu religious institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus. Article 25 also contains two explanations: one, wearing and carrying of kirpans is to be included in the profession of the Sikh religion; and two, the Hindus, in this context, include Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists