'Equality does not mean absence of classification'

The supreme court said that it may be necessary to treat unequals unequally, for equal treatment of persons with unequal circumstances creates an unjust situation

The Supreme Court has said that equality does not imply that there can be no classification, as at times, it may be necessary to treat unequals unequally, for equal treatment of persons with unequal circumstances creates an unjust situation.

However, a classification must not be arbitrary. It must be rationally founded on some quality or characteristics which are identifiable within the class of people, it said.

A bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant termed rules framed by the Bihar government as “erroneous and anti-merit” since it granted weightage of experience to only those doctors who worked under its hospitals in the recruitment to the post of general medical officers.