Articles 14 to 18 of the Indian Constitution together make up the:

Articles 14 to 18 of Part III form the first category of Fundamental Rights, called the Right to Equality.

The rights in this group:

• Abolition of titles, other than military or academic distinctions, and a bar on citizens accepting titles from a foreign State.
• Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of public employment.
• Equality before the law and equal protection of the laws to all persons within the territory of India.
• Abolition of untouchability and a ban on its practice in any form.
• Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, including in access to shops, hotels, wells and public places.

The idea behind it:

• Equality is one of the key ideals of the Preamble, which promises equality of status and of opportunity.
• The Right to Equality removes the social hierarchies of caste and privilege that existed before independence.

Equality and reservation:

• Equality does not mean that everyone must be treated in exactly the same way.
• The Constitution allows reasonable classification, and special provisions for women, children, socially and educationally backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

This is called protective discrimination. It aims at real, substantive equality rather than mere formal equality.

Laws based on these rights:

• The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 give effect to the abolition of untouchability.
• Awards such as the Bharat Ratna and the Padma awards are not treated as titles, according to the Supreme Court.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Right to Freedom covers Articles 19 to 22.
• ✗The Right against Exploitation covers child labour and forced labour.
• ✗The Right to Constitutional Remedies is in Article 32.