Equality before Law
Equality before Law – Article 14 falls under the Right to Equality a Fundamental Right. It states that
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 uses two expressions, “Equality before Law”, which implies the absence of any special privileges in favour of individuals and the subject of all classes to the ordinary law and “Equal Protection of the Laws”, which implies “Equal Treatment in Equal Circumstances”.
Equality before Law
Equality before Law implies that all citizens are equal in the eyes of the Law. It has been borrowed from the Constitution of the United Kingdom.
1. No person shall have any special rights or privileges.
2. The equal subjection of all person to the ordinary Law of the State by common law courts
3. No person (whether rich or poor, high or low, official or non-official) is above the Law.
4. Every person, who lives within the territory of India, has equal rights before the law.
It is a negative concept because the State is restricted from making any discrimination between two citizens.
Equal Protection of Law
It is a positive concept borrowed from the American Constitution. It implies that the State should ensure that every citizen gets equal protection of Law, and no one should be deprived of justice because of poverty or any other reason. It also implies that people in similar circumstances will be treated similarly but differently from people in different circumstances.
Rule of Law
The rule of law embodied in Article 14 is the ‘Basic feature’ of the Indian constitution. Hence it cannot be destroyed even by an amendment under article 368 of the constitution.
The concept of Equality before the Law is an element of the Rule of Law given by A. V. Dicey. The essential features of Rule of Law as per Dicey:
• Law does not recognise any special rights for any individual or group of individuals.
• Law does not recognise any distinction between one individual and the other on the basis of religion, race, sex, etc.
• None is punished without a fair trial.
• The same court will try all under the same Law.
• The Rule of Law does not give scope to absolute and arbitrary powers to the executive.
Exception to Equality
• The President and Governors enjoy immunity from prosecution under the Constitution (Article 361 and 361A).
• MPs and MLAs enjoy privileges in the legislature (Article 105 and 194).
• Foreign diplomats also enjoy immunity from prosecution.
Applicability
Article 14 applies to all persons, whether Indian citizens, foreigners or even legal entities such as a Company.
Important Indian Polity Questions
