The equality agenda
GEETA RAMASESHAN
LAW OF RESERVATION AND ANTI-DISCRIMINATION — With Special Emphasis on Education and Employment: Anirudh Krishnan and Harini Sudersan, LexisNexis Butterworths, C 33, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 995.
Reservation and anti-discrimination are planks on which many legal battles are fought and where different pressure groups of the Indian polity have sought to assert their rights. The constitutional validity of legislations and executive actions are challenged by individuals and groups primarily over the interpretation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution. Indeed every writ filed in the court invokes these provisions in some form or the other. A plethora of judgments of the Supreme Court and the high courts in the country have interpreted the principles of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in the Constitution under Articles 14, 15 and 16. Many of the judgments have carried forward the legacy of the Constitution by addressing historical discriminations of caste, class, community, religion and gender. Courts have also interpreted these provisions in various ways to advance socio-economic development in our march towards substantive equality. Arguments and decisions on principles such as reasonable classification, horizontal and vertical reservations have enriched the debate on fundamental rights and directive principles of state policy.
Legal commentary
This book is a legal commentary that has brought together a large number of these decisions in the field. It comprises four chapters. While the first three deal with Articles 14, 15 and 16, the last one is devoted to Articles 17, 243D, 243T, and 330 to 342. A very brief note has been provided in each chapter about the drafting of these constitutional provisions after which commentaries on the various case laws are given for the articles and concepts. The appendix covers a wide range of topics such as reservation in India and affirmative action programmes in other countries. The book also includes the government order relating to creamy layer.
The book primarily focuses on education and employment. Huge contentious issues have been raised in the context of reservation in India in these areas. The authors have also discussed other concerns such as transfer of land, maintenance, laws governing various religious institutions, and the rights of parties to an inter-caste marriage. Little-known cases relating to discrimination on the basis of poverty such as provisions of the Bombay Beggars Act find mention in the book. Given the scope of the work it is difficult to be exhaustive on equality and discrimination. Many cases of discrimination in personal law and criminal law have not been covered in length or have been omitted. But in the area of education and employment, which is the focus of this book, the authors have included cases starting from the beginning of constitutional development in the 1950s till last year. The strength of the book lies in its compendium of cases where the authors have not only extracted passages from judgments but have also included short narratives of arguments advanced by lawyers in certain cases. The views of generation next in the nine articles in the appendix are well analysed and bring interesting viewpoints with refreshing candour. The book is a welcome addition to the subject.
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