Right to equality given under article 14 of Indian law. it is one of the fundamental right. It ensure the guarantees to every person the right to equality before law & equal protection of the laws .

“Article 14 of the Constitution of India states -The state shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India“. Article 14 protects all the rights, to prevent discrimination regarding providing the rights under the Human Rights Act (1993).

The words ‘ any person ‘ in Article 14 of the constitution denotes that the guarantee of the equal protection of laws is available to any person which includes any company or association or body of individuals, The protection Article 14 extents to both citizen and non – citizen and to natural persons as well as legal persons.

1. Equality before Law

Origin of “Equality before Laws”

The fundamentals of this law have been taken from the ‘Magna Carta’, which is the pact or charter of the rights signed in the UK regarding the prohibition of the monopolistic power of states. This pact or the ‘Green Charter’  signed by King John stated that the basic human rights to be protected under this pact and also their churches should remain free from government interference. It also stated that people’s rights of inheritance of properties and their basic needs should be protected from excess taxes. This pact also claimed the protection of widow marriage rights and the protection of people from bribery and official misconduct as well.

The idea that like should be treated similarly is upheld in the context of equality before the law. It means that people who are equals—those who are in similar situations—should have the same right to sue and be sued for the same cause of action, and this right should be available to them without any discrimination based on religion, sex, caste, or any other such factor.

 Exceptions to Equality Before Law

The president, governor of state enjoys following things

• The president is not answerable for the activities and duties done in his office.
• No criminal proceedings instituted in court during his office term.
• No person is entitled to arrest or imprisonment of president or governor during his office term.
• An act done by his personal capacity, no civil proceeding shall be initiated during the office term of the president and governor.
• If any person publishes any true report of parliament proceeding in newspaper or article, he/she may not liable for any criminal or civil proceeding.
• If any member of parliament said anything which dislike by other person in the parliament or vote which is dislike other person in this type of case no one can initiate civil or criminal proceeding against the member of parliament.
• If any member of legislature of state said anything which dislike by other person in the legislature of any committee or vote which is dislike other person in this type of case no one can initiate civil or criminal proceeding against the member of legislature of state.

2. Equality Protection of Law:

Origin of “Equal Protection of Laws”

The Equal Protection of Laws has been obtained from Section 1 of the 14th Amendment Act of the US constitution. The whole concept of this law is to protect all the rights under this law for US residents. According to this Act, no state has the approval to formulate or enforce any laws which can minimise or degrade the immunity and the privileges of the US citizens. This act also protected the rights of properties and liberty of living for their citizens. As per this act, all the people who are either born or naturalised in the USA come under the protection of this law and the states in this country. Section 1 of this 14th Amendment includes some clauses including the privilege or immunity clause, the citizenship clause, due process clause and the “Equal Protection Clause“.

It makes the State responsible for taking all necessary actions to ensure that the promise of equal treatment of everyone is upheld. This rule states that like individuals should be treated similarly, yet it also states that unlike people shouldn’t be treated similarly. Therefore, even though people in different positions and situations are subject to the same law, the rule of equality will suffer as a result.

Difference between equality before law and equality protection of law

Case Laws:

1. Article 14 can be said to confer two types of individual rights on the citizens. First is Positive right of equal protection of law as derived from American Constitution and negative right of equality before law as derived from British Constitution as was explained by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) 9 SCC 1

2. Article 14 when read with other Articles as stated by the Supreme court in Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978) 1 SCC 248, where it was said that “various fundamental rights must be read together and must overlap and fertilize each other”, following this Article 14 along with Article 15 of the Indian Constitution provides fundamental Right to Protection against “discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth” to Indian Citizen, when read with Article 16 it provides fundamental “Right to Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment”, when read with Article 17 of the Indian Constitution it provides for right against ‘Untouchability’, when read with Article 18 it provides fundamental right of “Abolition of titles” by the state unless academic or military.

3. In the case of State of West Bengal Vs. Anwar Ali Sarkar,(1952) SCR 284 · the court held that the term ‘equal protection of law’ is a natural consequence of the term ‘equality before law’ and thus it is very difficult to imagine a situation in which there has been a violation of equal protection of law is not a violation of equality before law. So, while they have different meanings, both the terms are interrelated.

4. In the case of Bachan Singh Vs. State of Punjab,AIR 1980 SC 898 explaining the new dimensions of Article 14, Justice PN Bhagwati had observed that Rule of law permeated the entire fabric of the Indian Constitution and it excludes arbitrariness. According to him whenever there is arbitrariness, there is a denial of Rule of Law. So, every action of the State should be free from arbitrariness otherwise the Court will strike the act as unconstitutional.

5. Similarly in the case of D.S. Nakara Vs. Union of India,AIR 1983 SCR (2) 165 Rule 34 of the Central Services rules was held to be violating Article 14 and thus unconstitutional. Under this rule, a classification was made between the pensioners who retired before a specific date and those who retired after that date. Such classification was held irrational by the Court and it was arbitrary. Thus it was an infringement of Article 14 and as a result, was set aside.

Conclusion:

According to the principle of “equality before the law,” everyone must be treated equally regardless of their gender, economic status, caste, or any other aspect. All people who reside on Indian territory are granted the freedoms of working, receiving an education, and speaking their minds. Additionally, Article 14 guarantees or ensures the provision of civil, social, legal, inherent, political, and economic equality before the law. Every person living on Indian territory is entitled to equal protection under the law, which the states cannot also contest.