The State Of West Bengal vs Anwar Ali Sarkar on 11 January, 1952
âÂÂ16. A long line of decisions of this Court that
have explained the meaning of equality guaranteed by
Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution and laid down
tests for determining the constitutional validity of a
classification in a given case immediately assume
importance. These pronouncements have by now
authoritatively settled that Article 14 prohibits class
legislation and not reasonable classification. Decisions
starting with State of West Bengal v. Anwar Ali (AIR
1952 SC 75) down to the very recent pronouncement of
this Court in Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Director, CBI
and Anr. (AIR 2014 SC 2140) have extensively examined
and elaborately explained that a classification passes
the test of Article 14 only if (i) there is an intelligible
differentia between those grouped together and others
who are kept out of the group; and (ii) There exists a
nexus between the differentia and the object of the
legislation.âÂÂ