Part III — Fundamental Rights

Article 14 — Right to Equality

Article 14 guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of laws to every person in India — citizen or non-citizen. It bars the state from making arbitrary distinctions and is the constitutional foundation for all anti-discrimination law.

Timeline

11 December 2019

Citizenship Amendment Act enacted

The CAA granted expedited citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived before 2015 — notably excluding Muslims. Critics called it discriminatory; the government said it protected persecuted minorities. Nationwide protests followed.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

26 November 1949

Constitution of India adopted

The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India, drafted under the chairmanship of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. It came into force on 26 January 1950. The Constitution established India as a sovereign democratic republic.

Constitution of India, Preamble

Constitutional text

The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

History and context

Drawn from the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and the rule of law tradition in British jurisprudence, Article 14 was framed by the Constituent Assembly as an absolute guarantee. B. R. Ambedkar emphasised that equality before law without social equality was hollow; the article has since been interpreted to cover not just formal but substantive equality. The Supreme Court's 'reasonable classification' doctrine — permitting distinctions between groups that are intelligible and have a rational nexus to the object of the law — developed through early cases like State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar (1952).

Key Supreme Court cases

State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali Sarkar (1952)

Established that 'equals must be treated equally'; arbitrary classification violates Article 14.

E. P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu (1974)

Expanded Article 14 beyond classification to strike down 'arbitrariness' in state action.

Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978)

Fused Articles 14, 19, and 21 into a 'golden triangle'; procedure must be fair, just, and reasonable.

Last reviewed: 1 June 2026

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