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S. S. Jain Subodh Law College, Jaipur

Affiliated to
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University

2022-2023

“Article 15 – Reservation in educational institutions ”

Submitted by: Harshika Choudhary Submitted to: Ms. Anjali Bhatia

Asst. Prof.(Constitutional Law)

Subject : Constitution Semester : III

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DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT

I hereby declare that the work reported in this project entitled, “Article 15 – Reservation in

educational institutions”, submitted to the S. S. Jain Subodh Law College, Jaipur is an

authentic record of my work carried out under the supervision of Ms. Anjali Bhatia Asst.

Prof.(Constitutional Law).It is further certified that there is no plagiarism in this work. I

further attest that I am fully responsible for its content.

(Signature of the Scholar)

Name: Harshika Choudhary

Place: Jaipur, Rajasthan

Date:18.03.2023
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SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the work reported in the project entitled, “Article 15 – Reservation in

educational institutions”, submitted by Harshika Choudhary, to the S. S. Jain Subodh

Law College, Jaipur is a Bonafede record of her/his original work carried out under my

supervision. It is further certified there is no plagiarism in it. This work is being

recommended for further evaluation by the external examiner.

Place: Jaipur, Rajasthan (Signature of the Supervisor)

Date: 18.02.2023
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Acknowledgements

I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind

support and help of many individuals and organizations. I would like to extend my sincere

thanks to all of them.

I am highly indebted to Ms. Anjali Bhatia Asst. Prof.(Constitutional Law) for their

guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding

the project & also for their support in completing the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents & member of S.S. Jain Subodh

Law College, Jaipur for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in

completion of this project.

I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to industry persons for giving me

such attention and time.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleague in developing the project and people

who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

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Abstract

Article 15 states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on

grounds only of race, religion, caste, sex, and place of birth.

The world "discrimination" refers to make adverse distinctions with regard to or

to distinguish un-favourable from others while the term 'only' means that

discrimination can be done on the basis of other grounds.

Clause (1), (2) and (3) together it will follow that while there can be no discrimination in

general on the ground of sex, special provision in the case of women and children are

permissible. Thus it would be no violation of Article 15 if institutions are set up by the State

exclusively for women or places are reserved for women at public entertainments or in public

conveyances. Clause (4) was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 as a

result of the decision of the Supreme Court in State of Madras V. Champakam

Although the Directive Principles of State Policy embodies in Article 46 of the Constitution

lays down that the State should promote with special care the educational and economic

interests of the weaker sections of the people and protect them from social injustice, the court

held that “the Directive Principles of State Policy have to conform to and run as subsidiary to

the Chapter of Fundamental rights”. Now clause (4) enables the State to make special

provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizen or

for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Such provisions include reservations or

quotas and can be made in the exercise of executive powers without any legislative support.
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Content

Acknowledgement…………………………………………………………..3

Introduction…………………………………………………………………6

Why reservations are important……………………………………………7

Reservation in educational institutions……………………………………..8

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………12

Bibiliography………………………………………………………………13
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Article 15

Article 15 of the Indian constitution prohibits discrimination of individuals on grounds of

religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. As written in the constitution:

1.The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste,

sex, place of birth or any of them.

2. No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them,

be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to-

i) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or

ii) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly

or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

3. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for

women and children.

4. Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any

special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of

citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

In a society where caste system is so deeply entrenched, Article 15 of the constitution seeks

to deal with the discrimination and give equal rights to every individual regardless of their

caste, sex, religion etc.

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Why reservations are important?

Reservations can be defined as a tool to uplift the weaker sections of the society and enhance

their living conditions. Reservation in simple terms, can be understood as a way to secure

seats for the weaker sections of the society in educational institutional, government jobs and

even to legislatures. The main purpose behind implementing the reservation policy was to

provide equal opportunities to the weaker sections of the society as that of others and to

ensure that their interest is equally represented.

Reservations system in India-

Reservation has always remained a debatable topic in India. Reservation in the contest of

education system was all about reserving a set of percentages of seats in educational

institutions for weaker sections of society. In Indian society caste system was always remain

dominant. The caste system divided the Hindus into several rigid hierarchical groups, namely

Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya’s, Shudras and Dalit’s or untouchables. The main castes were

further divided into about 3,000 castes and 25,000 sub-castes, each based on their specific

occupation. Due to this caste system, inequality increased among people and were classified

as lower and upper castes. Lower caste people were the one who suffered the most, they were

not allowed to enter temples, sit in schools and educational institutions along with upper caste

people, lower caste people were not allowed to marry any upper caste and their access to

public places were restricted.

Post-independence, attempts were made to resolve the situation as the practice was

untouchability was abolished by way of Article 17 and under Article 46 state was made

responsible to protect the Schedule caste and Schedule Tribe from any social injustice and

exploitation. 
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Reservation in educational institutions

Originally there was no express provision in the Indian Constitution regarding reservation of

seats in educational institutions. Later on, Article 15(4) was inserted in the Indian

Constitution, which provides for reservations in educational institutions.

Initially reservation in educational institutions was provided for

 schedule caste and schedule tribe under Article 15(4) then,

 Post 1993 reservations were made for Other Backward Class (OBC) by Article 15(5)

on the basis of report of Mandal Commission. As per this report, 27% seats were

reserved for other backward classes in government jobs and educational institutions.

 and for Economically weaker sections (EWS) by Article 15(6) of the Indian

Constitution.

Reservation Criteria :

Schedule caste: 15% Schedule Tribe: 7.5%, OBC : 27% and to EWS : 10%.

Reasons for the reservation in India :

 Reservations were granted to uplift and improve the social position of the lower caste

people.

 Provide them with equal status as that of other sections of society.

 Generates education and employment opportunities for the lower caste people.

 Abolish illiteracy.

 Abolish practices such as untouchability.

Article 15(4) was one of the most important Article in Indian Constitution.

 It provides for the reservations in educational institutions for the advancement of any

backward class of citizens or for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

 It permits the state to reserve seats for backward class, schedule caste and schedule

tribes in educational institution, including in technical, medical, engineering colleges.

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 No time period was given for the validity of reservation under article 15(5).

 It was added by First Constitution Amendment Act, 1951, as a result of the decision

given in the case: State of Madras vs. Champakam Dorairajan.

 In the State of Madras Vs. Champakan Dorairajan, AIR 1951 SC 226, The

Madras government issued an order to provide reservations to every community in

medical colleges. This order was challenged and Supreme Court held that

government cannot provide reservation only on the basis of community lines and the

government order was struck out .In response of this judgement, legislature enacted

Article 15(4) in the Indian Constitution.

Article 15(4) provides power to the state to make special provisions for the advancement

of socially and educationally backward class or Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The term backward class is not defined in the constitution and every state specify who

belongs to backward class.

The Supreme court and High court  interpreted the meaning of backward classes in

number of cases.

 Firstly, to be categorised as backward class, the class needs to be both socially and

educationally backward.

 Secondly, class cannot be categorized solely based upon caste.

 Thirdly, poverty, occupations and place of habitation and other factors should also be

considered while determining the backward classes.

 . Defining backward class, In M.R. Balaji vs. State of Mysore, AIR 1963 SC 649,

the Mysore government issued an order under 15(4) to reserve seats for admissions to

the state medical and engineering colleges for backward class and more backward

class in addition to seats reserved for schedule caste and schedule tribe
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Reservation was done in the following manner:

28% for backward class, 22% for more backward class, 15 % for schedule caste, 3% for

schedule caste, making a total of reservation of 68% and only 32% seats were allotted for

the general category.

Seats were reserved for backward classes only based on caste and communities.

 The decision given in the case law of M.R.Balaji case was reversed in the case

of Indra Sawhney vs. Union  of India, AIR 1993 SC 477.

 Firstly, in this case court held that backward class can be defined solely on the basis

of caste.

 Secondly, the distinction between backward class and more backward class is valid.

 Thirdly, reservation limit should not exceed 50%.

 2003 Honorable supreme court in T.M. Pai Foundation v. Union of India held that the

state cannot make the reservation of seats in admissions in privately run educational

institutions.

 This position was reiterated by the court in 2005 in P.A. Inamdar v. State of

Maharashtra. To overturn these decisions, Parliament in 2005 added clause (5) in

Article 15 by the 93rd amendment. This clause enables the states to make any special

provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward

classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such

special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including

private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the

minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of Article 30. The validity of

this amendment was upheld by the honorable Supreme Court in Ashok Kumar

Thakur v. Union of India.

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Reservations for the persons with benchmark disabilities are made mandatory through

Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (Section 32) for the educational institutions receiving aid

from the governments. This Reservation shall be a minimum of 5% of total seats.

Recent Development in Reservations in Education System.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Third) Amendment Act, 2019.

Before 2019, reservations were provided on the basis of socially and educational

backwardness but after the Constitution (One Hundred and third) Amendment Act, 2019

importance was given to economic backwardness also.

Clause 6 in Article 15 was added in the Indian Constitution -

 Article 15(6) empowers to state to make special provisions for the advancement of

any economically weaker sections of the society.

 It allows for making reservations in higher educational institutions including in

private educational institutions, irrespective of the fact that it’s aided or unaided by

the state, except the minority educational institutions covered under Article 30.

 In addition to existing reservation system, Article 15(5) provides 10% reservation in

government jobs and educational institutions to economically weaker sections (EWS)

among general category.

This amendment brought total shares of reservation to almost 60%.

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Conclusion

Reservation can be used as a very effective tool to protect poor people form social injustice

and help them in overall development. But, in way of protecting the weaker sections of the

society, the interests of the community as a whole should not be ignored.

Till now, reservation in India has already reached to 60% and only 40% is provided to

general category. Reservation should be in limited proportion and not only be based on caste

as there is greater probability that it will create a caste-based society permanently.

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Bibliography

 Eastern Book Co. (2012). The constitution of India.

 Kaur, H., & Suri, R. K. (2009). Reservation in India: Recent perspectives in higher

education. Pentagon Press.

 Reservation: Under articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. LawPage. (2021, April 9).

Retrieved February 16, 2023, from

https://lawpage.in/constitutional_law/reservation_under_articles_15_and_16_of_the_

constitution_21531122018

 Mallika, N. (2021, September 3). Home. Scriptalex. Retrieved February 16, 2023,

from https://scriptalex.com/reservations-in-education-system-in-india/