Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion etc. :
Article 15(1) prohibits the State from discriminating against any citizen on grounds only of:
(a) religion
(b) race
(c) caste
(d) sex
(e) place of birth or
(f) any of them
Article 15(2) lays down that no citizen shall be subjected to any disability, restriction or condition with regard to –
(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort, maintained wholly or partially out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.
Article 15(3) and 15(4) create certain exceptions to the right guaranteed by Article 15(1) and 15(2). Under Article 15(3) the State can make special provision for women and children. It is under this provision that courts have upheld the validity of legislation or executive orders discriminating in favour of women (Union of India v. Prabhakaran, (1997) 2 SCC 633).
Article 15(4) permits the State to make special provision for the advancement of –
(a) Socially and educationally backward classes of citizens;
(b) Scheduled casts; and
(c) Scheduled tribes.