IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.9089 of 2022

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Amit Kumar, aged about 47 years, male, S/o Ram Bahadur Singh, resident of

Village and Post-Bihat, Tola-Maksaspur, Near-Kali Sthan, District-Begusarai,

Bihar, Pin-851135. At present resident of Mohalla-C-86, Rajpur Khurd

Extention, P.S.-South Delhi, District-Delhi.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1.

The High Court of Judicature at Patna through its Registrar General.

2.

The Registrar General, High Court of Judicature at Patna.

3.

The Registrar, Appointment, High Court of Judicature at Patna.

4.

The Selection Committee, District Judge (Entry Level), Direct from Bar

Exam-2021, High Court of Judicature at Patna.

... ... Respondent/s

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Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s

: Mr. Alok Kumar Jha, Advocate

For the Respondent/High Court : Mr. Piyush Lall, Advocate

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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR

and

HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA KUMAR

ORAL JUDGMENT

(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR)

Date : 11-08-2022

Heard Mr. Alok Kumar Jha, the learned

Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Piyush Lall, the

learned counsel for the respondent/High Court.

2. The issue involved in the present writ

petition is whether the key answer to Question No. 54

in the Preliminary Test of District Judge (Entry Level),

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Direct from Bar Examination 2021, held under the

Advertisement No. BSJS/1/2021, is incorrect.

3. Question No. 54 in the afore-noted

examination is as follows:-

Q. 54. The concept of “equal protection

of laws” enshrined under Article 14 of the Indian

Constitution finds its root from the -

(A) British Constitution

(B) American Constitution

(C) German Constitution

(D) Australian Constitution.

4. It is the contention of the petitioner that

the correct answer is option-(B), i.e., American

Constitution, whereas the model key answer suggests

option-(A), i.e., British Constitution as the correct

answer.

5. It has been urged on behalf of the

petitioner

that the equality clause of Indian

Constitution has two components; (i) equality before

law and (ii) equal protection of laws. Under the Indian

Constitution, there is a provision for protective

Patna High Court CWJC No.9089 of 2022 dt.11-08-2022

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discrimination which actually is the outcome of the

phrase “equal protection of laws”. This is an exception

to the equality clause. Various treatises on the

subject clearly indicate that the phrase “equal

protection of laws” is similar to one embodied in the

14^th Amendment to the American Constitution (refer

to Dicey; the Law of Constitution - 10^th Edition).

6. It is a matter of common knowledge that

the concept of equality does not envisage absolute

equality as Dr. Jennings, in the Law of Constitution -

3^rd Edition, has explained it: “equality before law

means that amongst equals, law should be equally

administered”.

7. The exact words of the 14^th Amendment

of the American Constitution, which was adopted in

1868, is being extracted hereinbelow:-

“All persons born or neutralized in the

United States and subject to the jurisdiction

thereof, are citizens of the United States and of

the State wherein they reside. No State shall

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make or enforce any law which shall abridge the

privileges or amenities of citizens of the United

States; nor shall any State deprive any person of

life, liberty or property without the due process of

law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction,

the equal protection of laws.

(Emphasis provided)

8. This forms part of Section-1 of the

Amending Act.

9. The other sections of the Amending Act

are not being extracted as they may not be neces