Article 15 is a fundamental provision of the Constitution of India, falling under Part III, which guarantees the Right to Equality. It was debated in the Constituent Assembly on November 29, 1948, and was created to solve the problem of historical and systemic discrimination by prohibiting the State from making distinctions against any citizen.
The core mechanism is laid out in Article 15(1), which mandates that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. Article 15(2) extends this prohibition to both the State and private individuals, ensuring no citizen is restricted from accessing public places like shops, hotels, and the use of wells, tanks, or roads maintained by the State.
However, the Article also contains exceptions that allow for affirmative action, which are crucial to its function. Article 15(3) permits the State to make special provisions for women and children. The most significant change came after the Supreme Court's ruling in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan (1951), which invalidated caste-based reservations in educational institutions, holding that the Communal G.O. violated Article 15(1) and Article 29(2). This judgment led to the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951, which inserted Article 15(4), allowing the State to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) or for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Later, the 93rd Amendment inserted Article 15(5), which extended reservations for SEBCs, SCs, and STs to admissions in educational institutions, including private ones (except minority institutions). Most recently, the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, inserted Article 15(6), which allows the State to provide up to 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in educational institutions. This provision broadened the scope of affirmative action beyond caste to include economic disadvantage. Article 15 is closely connected to Article 14 (Equality before the law) and Article 16 (Equality of opportunity in public employment), collectively forming the constitutional guarantee of the Right to Equality.