Analyze the distinguishing features of the notion of Equality in the Constitutions of the USA and India.

Question

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

American equality, added by the 14th Amendment, is formal and individual and binds only State action, while India's Articles 14 to 18 pursue substantive equality that also reaches private discrimination. India treats reservation as a facet of equality (Indra Sawhney, 1992), whereas SFFA v. Harvard (2023) ended race-conscious US admissions.

**Introduction**

B.R. Ambedkar warned in 1949 that India would have political equality amid social inequality. That warning marks the contrast: the US Constitution guards individuals against unequal State treatment, while India's Articles 14 to 18 also seek to dismantle caste hierarchy.

**Source and Scope of Equality in the Two Texts**

1. **Textual origin**: The 1787 US Constitution had no equality clause; it came with the 14th Amendment (1868), whereas India built it into the original text and Preamble.
2. **Double formula**: Article 14 joins British equality before the law to American equal protection, for every person.
3. **Private reach**: The US clause binds only the State, needing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while India's Articles 17 and 15(2) bind private persons too.

**Distinguishing Judicial Approaches to Equality**

SKETCH: comparison | Equality: USA vs India
a: USA
b: India
- Formal, colour-blind :: Substantive, group-aware
- Binds State action only :: Also binds private wrongs
- Tiered scrutiny tests :: Reasonable classification
- Affirmative action curtailed :: Reservation constitutionalised
- Change by judicial reversal :: Change by amendment too

1. **Testing laws**: The US uses tiered scrutiny; India uses reasonable classification (Anwar Ali Sarkar, 1952) and non-arbitrariness (E.P. Royappa, 1974).
2. **Affirmative action**: SFFA v. Harvard (2023) ended race-conscious admissions, while N.M. Thomas (1975) and Indra Sawhney (1992) made reservation part of equality, now extended to EWS (Janhit Abhiyan, 2022).
3. **Route of change**: Brown (1954) overturned Plessy by judicial reversal, while India amended its text, adding Article 15(4) in 1951.

**Way Forward**

1. **Targeting and protection**: Sub-classification upheld in Davinder Singh (2024) and a private-sector anti-discrimination law would deepen substantive equality.

**Conclusion**

American equality is formal and individual; Indian equality is substantive and transformative. Kept well targeted, India's model can turn equality of opportunity into equality of status.

Analyze the distinguishing features of the notion of Equality in the Constitutions of the USA and India.

Model answer

Practise this question

Comparison of the Indian Constitutional Scheme with That of Other Countries8 questions

Ghissu