Group Rights: Women, Children, Persons with Disabilities, Elderly, Minorities and Weaker Sections

• Article 15(3): special provisions for women and children. Art. 15(4): advancement of socially and educationally backward classes, SC and ST. Art. 15(5): reservation in admission to educational institutions, including private unaided (except minority institutions) (93rd Amendment 2005). Art. 15(6): up to 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (103rd Amendment 2019).

• Art. 16(4), 16(4A), 16(4B): reservation in public employment, promotion and carry-forward; Art. 16(6): 10% EWS reservation in posts.

• Art. 17: abolition of untouchability. Art. 23: prohibition of trafficking and forced labour. Art. 24: no child below 14 in hazardous work.

• Art. 29 and 30: cultural and educational rights of minorities. Art. 46: State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of SC, ST and other weaker sections and protect them from social injustice and exploitation.

• Art. 330, 332, 334: reservation of seats for SC and ST in the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies (extended to 2030 by the 104th Amendment 2019/2020). Art. 243D and 243T: reservation of seats in Panchayats and Municipalities for SC, ST and women (at least one-third for women).

• Constitution (106th Amendment) Act 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam): one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and the Delhi Assembly (new Arts. 330A, 332A, 239AA); it will operate after the next census and delimitation.

• Art. 38, 39(a)–(f), 41, 42, 43, 45, 47: Directive Principles on welfare, equal pay, protection of children, work and assistance in old age and disablement, maternity relief.

International framework

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): adopted 18 December 1979, in force 3 September 1981; 30 Articles; defines discrimination against women (Art. 1); monitored by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (23 experts). India ratified CEDAW on 9 July 1993, with declarations on Articles 5(a), 16(1) and 16(2) (non-interference in personal laws and the voluntary registration of marriages) and a reservation on Art. 29(1). The Optional Protocol (1999) has not been ratified by India.

• Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women 1993; Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 (Fourth World Conference on Women); earlier conferences at Mexico City (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985). UN Women was created in 2010. Convention on the Political Rights of Women 1952; ILO Convention 100 (equal remuneration).

Constitutional and statutory framework in India

Landmark cases on women’s rights

• Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997): guidelines against sexual harassment at the workplace; CEDAW read into Arts. 14, 15, 19 and 21.

• Apparel Export Promotion Council v. A.K. Chopra (1999): sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour; international conventions used to interpret fundamental rights.

• Mary Roy v. State of Kerala (1986): Syrian Christian women governed by the Indian Succession Act, not the Travancore Act.

• Githa Hariharan v. Reserve Bank of India (1999): mother can act as natural guardian of the minor in appropriate cases.

• Air India v. Nargesh Meerza (1981): rule terminating air hostesses on first pregnancy struck down.

• Mohd. Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum (1985); Danial Latifi v. Union of India (2001); Shayara Bano v. Union of India (2017) on Muslim women and maintenance and talaq.

• Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018): adultery provision of the IPC (s.497) struck down as discriminatory and treating women as property.

• Laxmi v. Union of India (2014): regulation of sale of acid; compensation to victims.

• Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020): daughters are coparceners by birth irrespective of whether the father was alive on 9 September 2005.

• Secretary, Ministry of Defence v. Babita Puniya (2020): permanent commission for women officers in the Army.

• Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014): guidelines against automatic arrest in cruelty and dowry cases.

• Bodhisattwa Gautam v. Subhra Chakraborty (1996): rape violates Art. 21 and is a crime against basic human rights; Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum v. Union of India (1995): compensation and legal assistance to rape victims.

International framework

• Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1924; UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child 1959; Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): adopted 20 November 1989, in force 2 September 1990, 54 Articles, the most widely ratified human rights treaty. “Child” means every human being below 18 unless majority is attained earlier (Art. 1). Four guiding principles: non-discrimination (Art. 2), best interests of the child (Art. 3), right to life, survival and development (Art. 6), respect for the views of the child (Art. 12).

• Monitoring: Committee on the Rights of the Child (18 experts). Optional Protocols (2000): on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (India ratified both in 2005); third Protocol on a communications procedure (2011; not ratified by India). India ratified the CRC on 11 December 1992.

• Other instruments: ILO Convention 138 (minimum age) and 182 (worst forms of child labour), both ratified by India in 2017; Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption 1993 (India party since 2003); UNICEF (1946).

Constitutional provisions: Art. 15(3); Art. 21A (free and compulsory education for children 6 to 14 years, inserted by the 86th Amendment 2002); Art. 24; Art. 39(e) and (f) (health and strength of children, opportunities and facilities for healthy development); Art. 45 (early childhood care and education below six); Art. 51A(k) (duty of parents or guardians to provide opportunities for education for children six to fourteen).

Statutes

Landmark cases on children

• People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India (1982, Asiad workers): Art. 24 is enforceable and construction is a hazardous employment.

• M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu (1996): child labour in the Sivakasi match industry; directions for rehabilitation, with a welfare fund of Rs 20,000 per child employed in hazardous work.

• Laxmikant Pandey v. Union of India (1984): guidelines for inter-country adoption.

• Sheela Barse v. Union of India (1986): children in jails; speedy trial and separate facilities.

• Mohini Jain v. State of Karnataka (1992) and Unni Krishnan v. State of A.P. (1993): right to education as part of Art. 21, limited to children up to 14 (and later codified in Art. 21A).

• Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2011): trafficking of children for circuses.

• Gaurav Jain v. Union of India (1997): children of sex workers; right to be rehabilitated.

• Independent Thought v. Union of India (2017): exception to rape for a wife aged 15 to 18 read down.

• Sampurna Behrua v. Union of India (2018): directions for the implementation of child protection laws.

International framework

• Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons 1975; International Year of Disabled Persons 1981; UN Decade of Disabled Persons 1983–92; World Programme of Action 1982; Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 1993. The Asia and Pacific decades (1993–2002; 2003–12) led to the Biwako Millennium Framework.

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD): adopted 13 December 2006, opened for signature 30 March 2007, in force 3 May 2008; 50 Articles; a human rights treaty with a social development dimension; adopts the social model (disability results from the interaction of impairment with barriers); general principles in Art. 3 (dignity, non-discrimination, full participation, respect for difference, accessibility, equality of opportunity, gender equality, evolving capacities of children). Monitored by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (18 experts); the Optional Protocol allows individual communications. India signed on 30 March 2007 and ratified on 1 October 2007; India has not ratified the Optional Protocol. International Day of Persons with Disabilities: 3 December.

Constitutional provisions: Art. 41 (right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement); Art. 21; Arts. 14, 15 and 16; Seventh Schedule, State List Entry 9 (relief of the disabled and unemployable).

Statutes

Cases

• Union of India v. National Federation of the Blind (2013): reservation computed on the total number of vacancies in the identified posts.

• Jeeja Ghosh v. Union of India (2016): a person with a disability was removed from an aircraft; the Court stressed dignity, non-discrimination and accessibility.

• Rajive Raturi v. Union of India (2017): directions to ensure accessibility of public spaces and transport.

• Siddaraju v. State of Karnataka (2020): reservation for persons with disabilities in promotions.

• Vikash Kumar v. UPSC (2021): scribe for a candidate with writer’s cramp; reasonable accommodation as part of the right to equality.

International framework: Vienna International Plan of Action on Ageing 1982 (First World Assembly on Ageing); UN Principles for Older Persons 1991 (GA Resolution 46/91: independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment, dignity); International Year of Older Persons 1999; Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing 2002; International Day of Older Persons on 1 October; Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (2010); UN Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021–2030; the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons 2015 is the first binding regional treaty on the subject.

Constitutional provisions: Art. 41 (public assistance in old age); Art. 21; Art. 47; Seventh Schedule, Concurrent List Entry 24 (welfare of labour, social security and social insurance).

Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 (MWPSC Act)

• Senior citizen: a citizen of India aged 60 years or above. Parent includes a biological, adoptive or step-father or mother, whether or not a senior citizen.

• Duty of maintenance: children (and relatives who inherit the property of a childless senior citizen) must maintain parents and senior citizens so that they can lead a normal life. A senior citizen may apply to a Maintenance Tribunal (constituted at the sub-division level, usually headed by the Sub-Divisional Officer), with appeal to an Appellate Tribunal (District Magistrate). Tribunals are to decide within 90 days (extendable once by 30 days).

• Maintenance allowance: the 2007 Act capped the monthly allowance at Rs 10,000; the 2019 Amendment Bill (not enacted) proposed removing the cap and widening the definition of children; check the present position.

• Protection of property and life: s.23 renders a transfer of property by a senior citizen void if the transferee fails to provide basic amenities and physical needs (applied in Sudesh Chhikara v. Ramti Devi, 2022); s.22 requires State action to protect life and property; s.19 requires State Governments to establish old age homes (at least one in each district); s.24 punishes abandonment of a senior citizen (imprisonment up to three months, or fine up to Rs 5,000, or both).

• Related laws: s.125 CrPC (now the corresponding BNSS provision) and s.20 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 (maintenance of parents).

• S. Vanitha v. Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban District (2020): the Supreme Court harmonised the remedies under the 2007 Act and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and recognised a senior citizen’s right to seek eviction from a shared household in appropriate cases.

• Policies and schemes: National Policy on Older Persons 1999; Integrated Programme for Older Persons; National Programme for Health Care of the Elderly; Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (National Social Assistance Programme); Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana; Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana; Ayushman Vay Vandana (health cover for persons aged 70 and above).

Concept and definition

• The Indian Constitution uses the word “minorities” in Arts. 29 and 30 and in the headings of Arts. 350A and 350B but does not define it. The courts have said that minorities are determined State-wise (for linguistic minorities, Re Kerala Education Bill, 1958 and D.A.V. College v. State of Punjab, 1971; for religious minorities, T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, 2002, by 11 judges).

• International definitions: Capotorti (1977): a group numerically inferior to the rest of the population, in a non-dominant position, whose members, being nationals of the State, have ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics different from the rest and show a sense of solidarity directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language. Deschenes (1985) is a similar definition.

International instruments: ICCPR Art. 27 (persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with others, to enjoy their culture, profess and practise their religion, or use their language); UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 1992 (GA Resolution 47/135, 18 December 1992); the Working Group on Minorities (1995–2007), then the Forum on Minority Issues (2007); the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues (2005); the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995). India observes 18 December as Minorities Rights Day.

Constitutional provisions

National machinery: the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992 (see section 10) led to the notification of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) in 1993, and Jains were added in January 2014, making six notified communities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs was created in January 2006. Other bodies and reports: Sachar Committee (2005–06, on the socio-economic status of Muslims), Ranganath Misra Commission (National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 2004–07), the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme for Minorities (2006), the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act 2004, and the Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities.

Cases on minority rights

• Re Kerala Education Bill (1958): the Art. 30(1) right is subject to reasonable regulation to secure educational standards.

• S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India (1968): AMU was held not to be established by the Muslim minority; the issue was reopened in Aligarh Muslim University v. Naresh Agarwal (2024), where a seven-judge bench by majority overruled Azeez Basha, holding that an institution does not lose minority status merely because a statute gave it legal form, and left the actual status of AMU for a regular bench.

• St. Xavier’s College v. State of Gujarat (1974): affiliation is not a matter of choice; the right is not absolute.

• T.M.A. Pai Foundation (2002): the State is the unit for identifying minorities; no right to maladminister; regulatory measures are allowed; P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra (2005): no reservation can be imposed on private unaided minority institutions.

• Bal Patil v. Union of India (2005): Jains were not treated as a national minority at that time (and were later notified in 2014).

• Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v. Union of India (2014): the RTE Act does not apply to minority schools.

• Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025: a recent amendment to the law on Muslim endowments, litigated before the Supreme Court, which passed an interim order in September 2025 on certain provisions. Treat as a current-affairs item and check the latest position.

• Criminal law: provisions on promoting enmity between groups (IPC s.153A) and deliberate acts to outrage religious feelings (s.295A), with their BNS counterparts; Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.

Meaning. “Weaker sections” is a constitutional and policy expression (Art. 46) covering SC, ST and other socially and educationally backward classes, and by extension women, children, persons with disabilities, bonded labourers, the economically weak and other disadvantaged groups. Art. 366(24) and (25) define SC and ST by reference to Arts. 341 and 342 (President’s lists); Art. 366(26C) defines socially and educationally backward classes (102nd Amendment 2018).

Constitutional framework: Arts. 15(4), 15(5), 15(6); 16(4), 16(4A), 16(4B), 16(6); 17; 23; 46; 244 with the Fifth Schedule (administration of Scheduled Areas) and Sixth Schedule (tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram); 330–334; 335; 338, 338A and 338B (national commissions, section 10); 340 (Commission to investigate backward classes); 341, 342, 342A.

Statutes

Reservation jurisprudence

Other leading cases on weaker sections: People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India (1982) and Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India (1984) on bonded labour and Art. 23; Samatha v. State of A.P. (1997) protecting tribal land from transfer; Hussainara Khatoon v. State of Bihar (1979) and M.H. Hoskot v. State of Maharashtra (1978) on free legal aid as part of Art. 21; National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014) on transgender persons.