Article 14-18 of the Indian Constitution guarantees right to equality to every citizen of India. Article 14 says that State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

The concept of “equality before law (EBL)” is of British origin. It means that no person whether rich or poor, low or high, official or non-official is above law and all person are to be treated equally and subject to same type of court interference, irrespective of their rank/position. It is somewhat negative in concept as it is a declaration of equality of all persons within the territory of India, implying thereby the absence of any privilege by reasons of birth, creed, or like in favour of any individual. However, the concept of EBL does not involve the idea of absolute equality amongst all. Article 14 guarantees similarity of treatment and not identical treatment.

The concept of “equal protection of laws (EPL)” has been taken from the American Constitution. It means that among equals the law should be equal and equally administered. So, it is a positive concept, implying the right to equality of treatment in equal circumstances. Thus, EPL requires affirmative action by State towards unequal.

So, Article 14 itself provides for reasonable classification and the concept of equality permits rational discrimination. Thus, there are exceptions to right to equality which has been reiterated by many of the Court’s judgements and has been provided in the Constitutions as well.  Some of them are:

1. No process for arrest or imprisonment of President or Governor shall be issued from any court during his term of office.
   
   
2. No member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceeding of court for anything said or voted in parliament (Art 105).
   
   
3. Article 31C - where law made by state to implement DPSPs in clause (b) and (c) of Article 39 cannot be challenged for violation of article 14.
   
   
4. Yusuf vs State of Bombay 1954: In offences relating to women (e.g adultery), women may be placed in a more favorable position, having regard to their social status and need for protection.
   
   
5. Balsara vs State of Bombay 1957: It would not be unconstitutional to differentiate between civil and military personnel or between foreign visitors and Indian citizens.
   
   

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network that connects objects in the physical world to the internet and to each other. By allowing devices to communicate with each other, IoT enhances consumer experience and productivity by minimising human intervention and associated disruptions,

IoT’s Potential Applications

The Internet of Things can be used to create value in several ways. In addition to improving productivity in current operations, the Internet of Things can enable new types of products and services. Application in various fields include:

• Agriculture: Real-time weather and soil alerts, crop advisory services, connected tools such as autonomous tractors and harvesters and personalized micro-financing can revolutionize agriculture.
  
  
• Manufacturing: IoT sensors can help reduce maintenance costs through preventive maintenance.
  
  
• Healthcare: Smart pills and medical wearables can make diagnostic and prescriptive healthcare affordable and accessible.
  
  
• e-Commerce: IoT can synergize the demand and supply of location and preference based services by leveraging connected devices and big data.
  
  

IoT’s Importance to Smart Cities

Smart Cities seek to improve quality of life by leveraging ICT and smart solutions.

• Smart Water: Connected tools can check water quality, provide real time information on leakages, monitor flood risk etc.
  
  
• Smart Environment: Automatically monitoring pollution levels and sustainability targets can ease sustainability planning and action.
  
  
• Smart Waste Management: IoT can enable efficient segregation, disposal and recycling. E.g. Municipalities can be automatically alerted when trash cans fill up.
  
  
• Smart Safety: Wearables and smart cameras can enhance safety by sensing distress and alerting the police and paramedics in case of crime or accidents.
  
  
• Smart Transport: GPS-enabled public transport, smart traffic lights and CCTV cameras can reduce travel time and make a transport safer and cheaper.
  
  
• Smart Grids: Time-of-day-based applications, smart meters and automatic fault-detection and maintenance can cut costs substantially.
  
  

IoT has the ability to change the way we live, work and relate to each other. By reducing the need to perform mundane, repetitive tasks, it can unlock our creative potential. To fully realize the benefits of IoT, concerted action by enterprises and governments is required. India’s draft IoT policy which seeks to synthesise IoT, Smart Cities and Digital India to foster research and investment, is a step in the right direction.