Article 16 of Indian Constitution
Article 16 of the Indian Constitution is part of the Fundamental Rights under Part III and deals with equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.
🔹 Full Text of Article 16:
16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office under the Government or any local or other authority within a State or Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment.
(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
(4B) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from considering the unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for being filled up in that year in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or clause (4A) as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeeding year or years and such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for determining the ceiling of fifty per cent reservation on total number of vacancies of that year.
(5) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.
🔍 Key Points Explained:
Equality of Opportunity
All Indian citizens have an equal chance to be employed in public sector jobs.
Prohibition of Discrimination
No discrimination in public employment based on religion, race, caste, sex, etc.
Permissible Exceptions
Clause (3): Parliament can require residence within a state for certain jobs.
Clause (4): Allows for reservations for backward classes.
Clause (4A): Permits reservation in promotion for SCs and STs.
Clause (4B): Allows carry forward of unfilled reserved vacancies.
Clause (5): Religious institutions may prefer employees of the same religion.
📚 Landmark Judgments Related to Article 16:
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) – Upheld 27% OBC reservation; laid down the 50% ceiling on reservations.
M. Nagaraj v. Union of India (2006) – Validated Article 16(4A) but imposed certain conditions for reservation in promotions.
Jarnail Singh v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta (2018) – Eased conditions set by Nagaraj case.
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