Understanding what the right to equality promises

Context: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act-2019 has been challenged in Supreme Court on the grounds of violation of Article 14.

Reasonable classification test:

• It is a legal concept used to assess the fairness and validity of laws or government actions that differentiate between groups of people.
• It ensures that such classifications are not arbitrary and promote equal treatment under the law.
• The Home Ministry argues that CAA-2019 fits the reasonable classification as it grants citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring

Concerns with application of reasonable test

• Discrimination based on religion contradicts secularism and may not be adequately addressed by the classification test.
• A comprehensive re-understanding of the right to equality is needed, involving radical redevelopment of existing tests.

Source: The Hindu