Substantive Equality As A Tool Of Transformative Constitutionalism: A Feminist Reinterpretation Of Constitutional Morality In Shaping Contemporary Indian Jurisprudence

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Kishan Kumar Das, LL.M, Madhusudan Law University

Deepika Palatasingh, LL.M, Madhusudan Law University

ABSTRACT

The Constitution of India was envisioned not merely as a treatise of governance, but as an emancipatory manifesto designed to dismantle deeply entrenched social hierarchies. However, traditional Indian jurisprudence has frequently defaulted to a paradigm of formal equality, often inadvertently perpetuating patriarchal and systemic inequities through ostensibly neutral legal frameworks. While the Constitution guarantees equality under Articles 14, 15, and 16, judicial engagement has evolved from formal non- discrimination toward a substantive, dignity-oriented framework. This paper explores this shift through the lens of Sandra Fredman’s model of substantive equality as the primary operational tool of Transformative Constitutionalism. Simultaneously, the Supreme Court has invoked constitutional morality to invalidate discriminatory practices and resist majoritarian social norms; yet, its normative foundations remain insufficiently theorized from a feminist perspective. Drawing upon the anti-subordination framework of Catharine MacKinnon, this paper argues that constitutional morality must be understood as a structural commitment to dismantling systemic hierarchies of gendered power rather than merely enforcing abstract neutrality. Through a feminist reinterpretation of application of constitutional morality, the paper investigates how the Court utilizes Constitutional values to override regressive societal morality, ultimately analysing that for constitution to fulfill its transformative promise, substantive equality must be consistently applied to unmask discrimination and thereby reshaping the future of Indian legal theory.

Keywords: Transformative Constitutionalism, formal equality, Substantive Equality, Constitutional Morality, feminist perspective, regressive societal morality

932. SUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY AS A TOOL OF TRANSFORMATIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM- A FEMINIST REINTE

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