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"The 15th Amendment nullifies sophisticated as well as simple-minded modes of discrimination. It hits onerous procedural requirements which effectively handicap exercise of the franchise by the coloured race although the abstract right to vote may remain unrestricted as to all races." See Lane v. Wilson, (1939) 307 U. S. 268.
Again, as observed in Shelley v. Kraemer, (1948) 334 U. S. 1, 22, "equal protection of the laws is not achieved through indiscriminate imposition of inequalities." The contention that there must be an exclusion of Brahmins or Christians altogether in order to constitute discrimination within the meaning of Article 15(1) ignores the language & purpose of the Article. This argument may be relevant to an interpretation of Article 39(2) as I shall show presently. The prohibition in Article 15(1) is against differentiation between one citizen & another citizen on the ground of caste, race or religion. The rights that are protected &
guaranteed by this article are the personal rights of each individual citizen, his caste, race or religion being wholly ruled out of consideration. It is not the rights of a caste or community or the rights of citizens as representing or forming integral parts of a caste or community that this Article deals with & guarantees. The right guaranteed is the personal right of every individual citizen qua citizen, & not as belonging to a particular caste or professing a particular religion. The American decisions already cited emphasise that the right is the personal right of each individual citizen unaffected by his race or colour.