Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
included in editionWhat does this mean?
The State cannot discriminate against citizens only on the listed grounds, and specified public access protections also apply. The Article permits particular measures for women, children and specified disadvantaged groups, subject to its clauses.
Enforceable constitutional rights, their limits, protective exceptions and the courts' remedies.
A refusal of access to a covered public facility solely on caste grounds raises the specific non-discrimination protection.
Why is this provision here?
The general equality guarantee is made more concrete by identifying prohibited discrimination and preserving specified equality-promoting measures.
This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason. The later amendment records linked below document changes affecting this Article; their Bill statements explain those proposals, not necessarily every original clause or the complete present legal outcome.
The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.
Limits, exceptions & reading carefully
Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.
Read the official constitutional text
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles
1. Added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, s. 2 (w.e.f. 18-6-1951). 2. Ins. by the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005, s. 2 (w.e.f. 20-1-2006). 3. Ins. by the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019, s. 2 (w.e.f. 14-1-2019).
Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.