Right to Equality Questions and Answers

Q: The Supreme Court has declared the right to safe, well-maintained and motorable roads of a fundamental right to life. The Supreme Court has considered it a part of which Article of the Constitution ?

The right was read into Article 21.Article 21 protects life and personal liberty, and the Supreme Court has long read it to include the right to live with dignity and the conditions that make that possible. In 2025 it held that the right to safe, well-maintained and motorable roads is part of the right to life under Article 21, placing a duty on the State and road authorities.Article 14 guarantees equality before law, Article 19 the six freedoms such as speech and movement, and Article 32 the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.

Q: Which Article of the Indian Constitution is related to abolition of untouchability ?

Untouchability is abolished by Article 17.Article 17 abolishes untouchability, forbids its practice in any form, and makes enforcing any disability arising out of it an offence punishable by law. Parliament gave effect to it through the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, later renamed the Protection of Civil Rights Act.Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment, and Article 18 abolishes titles.

Q: Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of

Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.The Article says that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. All five grounds are named, and a single ground is enough to bring the rule into play.The other options leave out one or more of the five grounds and use the word 'only' to narrow the list, which the text of the Article does not do.

11.

The Supreme Court has declared the right to safe, well-maintained and motorable roads of a fundamental right to life. The Supreme Court has considered it a part of which Article of the Constitution ?

A.Article 14
B.Article 19
C.Article 21
D.Article 32

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2026,

Answer: C

The right was read into Article 21.

Article 21 protects life and personal liberty, and the Supreme Court has long read it to include the right to live with dignity and the conditions that make that possible. In 2025 it held that the right to safe, well-maintained and motorable roads is part of the right to life under Article 21, placing a duty on the State and road authorities.

Article 14 guarantees equality before law, Article 19 the six freedoms such as speech and movement, and Article 32 the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.

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12.

Which Article of the Indian Constitution is related to abolition of untouchability ?

A.Article - 15
B.Article - 16
C.Article - 17
D.Article - 18

Exam Year(s)

Tripura Public Service Commission - 2019,

Answer: C

Untouchability is abolished by Article 17.

Article 17 abolishes untouchability, forbids its practice in any form, and makes enforcing any disability arising out of it an offence punishable by law. Parliament gave effect to it through the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, later renamed the Protection of Civil Rights Act.

Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, Article 16 guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment, and Article 18 abolishes titles.

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13.

Clause (4) of Article 15 has been added to the Constitution by

A.The Constitution First Amendment Act.
B.The Constitution Second Amendment Act
C.The Constitution Fourth Amendment Act.
D.The Constitution Sixth Amendment Act.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: A

Clause (4) of Article 15 was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.

The amendment was passed after the Supreme Court struck down a communal reservation in State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan. It added clause (4) to Article 15, allowing the State to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes and for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The Second Amendment of 1952 dealt with the representation of the States in the Lok Sabha, the Fourth Amendment of 1955 with compensation for property acquired by the State, and the Sixth Amendment of 1956 with taxes on the sale of goods in the course of inter-State trade. None of them added clause (4) of Article 15.

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14.

Article 16(4A) which gives power to the State to make laws regarding reservation in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was added by the

A.75th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
B.76th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
C.77th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
D.78th Amendment to the Constitution of India.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: C

Article 16(4A), which lets the State provide reservation in promotions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes where they are not adequately represented, was inserted by the 77th Amendment, which came into force in 1995; so (C) is correct. It was passed after the Supreme Court decision in Indra Sawhney (1992) had held that reservation could not be made in promotions. The 75th Amendment in option (A) dealt with rent control tribunals. The 76th in option (B) put the Tamil Nadu reservation law into the Ninth Schedule. The 78th in option (D) added land reform laws to the Ninth Schedule.

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15.

In which one of the following case has the Supreme Court upheld the Constitutional validity of the Constitution (93rd Amendment) introducing Article 15(5) ?

A.TMA Pai Foundation Vs. State of Karnataka
B.Indra Sawhney Vs. Union of India
C.M. Nagaraj Vs. Union of India
D.Ashok Kumar Thakur Vs. Union of India

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: D

The constitutional validity of the 93rd Amendment, which introduced Article 15(5) permitting reservation in private unaided institutions as well as aided ones, was upheld in Ashok Kumar Thakur v. Union of India, which is option D.

TMA Pai Foundation concerns the rights of minority institutions, Indra Sawhney is the Mandal reservation case, and M. Nagaraj concerns promotion and the 77th, 81st, 82nd and 85th Amendments. So A, B and C are different cases.

The amendment was passed in 2005 and the decision came in 2008.

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16.

Read Assertion (A) and Reason (R) and find correct answer using codes given below :

Assertion (A) : Equality is antithetic to arbitrariness.
Reason (R) : Article 14 of the Indian Constitution prevents arbitrary discretion being vested in the executive.
Codes :

A.Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is correct explanation of (A).
B.Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not correct explanation of (A).
C.(A) is true, but (R) is false.
D.(A) is false, but (R) is true.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: A

Both statements are true and the reason explains the assertion, which is option A. Equality and arbitrariness are antithetical, and Article 14 prevents arbitrary discretion being vested in the executive, as the Supreme Court said in E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu.

Since the reason is the constitutional basis for the assertion, B is wrong, and C and D wrongly call a true statement false.

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17.

In E.P. Royappa case which of the Supreme Court Judge propounded the new concept of Equality as "Equality is a dynamic concept with many aspects and dimensions and it cannot be 'crippled, combined and confined' within traditional and doctrinaire limits" ?

A.Justice Y.V. Chandrachud
B.Justice P.N. Bhagawati
C.Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
D.Justice O.P. Chinnapa Reddy

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: B

The passage is from Justice P.N. Bhagwati's opinion in E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu (1974). He held that equality is a dynamic concept with many aspects and dimensions and cannot be confined within traditional and doctrinaire limits, and that arbitrariness is the antithesis of equality under Article 14, because an arbitrary act is unequal both according to political logic and constitutional law. This new, wider reading of Article 14 was later developed in Maneka Gandhi and Ajay Hasia. Justice Chandrachud, Justice Krishna Iyer and Justice Chinnappa Reddy sat on later equality cases but are not the author of the Royappa passage. The answer is Justice P.N. Bhagwati.

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18.

Which one of the following articles is related to 'Fundamental Rights to Equality' ?

A.Article 23
B.Article 24
C.Article 38
D.Article 14

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: D

Article 14 is the article on the fundamental right to equality: it guarantees every person equality before the law and the equal protection of the laws. It opens the group of Articles 14 to 18 on equality. Article 23 prohibits trafficking in human beings and forced labour, and Article 24 prohibits the employment of children in factories and hazardous work, and both belong to the right against exploitation. Article 38 is in the Directive Principles of State Policy and asks the State to promote a social order of justice, so it is not a fundamental right at all. The answer is option D.

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19.

Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of

A.Religion, race and caste only.
B.Religion, caste and sex only.
C.Religion, caste, sex and place of birth only.
D.Religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: D

Article 15(1) prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

The Article says that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. All five grounds are named, and a single ground is enough to bring the rule into play.

The other options leave out one or more of the five grounds and use the word 'only' to narrow the list, which the text of the Article does not do.

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20.

Clause(5) of article-15 has been added to the constitution by :

A.Constitution (First Amendment) Act
B.Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act
C.Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act
D.Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2014,

Answer: D

Clause (5) of Article 15 was added by the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005. It allows the State to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, and for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in admission to educational institutions, including private ones, other than minority institutions.

The First Amendment of 1951 added clause (4) to the same Article. The Seventh and Forty-second Amendments made other changes, such as the reorganisation of States and the changes to the Preamble, and did not add clause (5). The answer is the Ninety-third Amendment.

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