LONG ARTICLE- ALGORITHMIC BIAS AND SUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY: RETHINKING ARTICLE 14 IN THE AI ERA

This long article is written by Kartikey Mishra and Namrata Mishra.
ABSTRACT
Artificial Intelligence continues to penetrate the heart of India’s governance and legal systems. As an example, in the case of AI-enabled facial-recognition systems, currently deployed to record student attendance in Telangana, to fintech services that aid in scoring an algorithmic credit rating, and judges using ChatGPT to help them with bail matters, technology is influencing who receives rights, opportunities, and justice. Algorithms are supposed to be efficient and fast, yet they also introduce an undetectable threat: that of reproducing existing inequalities by introducing hidden data and design bias. This is not just a technical issue, it is a constitutional issue in a country where caste, gender and class divisions are still very strong and institutionalized. This paper states that Article 14 of the Indian Constitution needs to be re-examined according to the constitutional harms of algorithmic bias. The pre-existing tests of reasonable classification, and arbitrariness, which were important during their time, have not kept up to date in regard to systemic discrimination caused by hidden and automated decision-making. Drawing on the Supreme Courts jurisprudence of substantive equality as depicted in cases such as E. P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu and Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, this paper engages with a framework that renders algorithmic bias a violation of constitutional equality. The analysis situates India within global debates on AI regulation, referencing the European Union’s AI Act, Brazil’s draft AI bill, and discussions on compute sovereignty across the Global South. Ultimately, the paper contends that embedding substantive equality into AI governance is constitutionally necessary if technological progress is to advance rather than undermine justice in India.
Keywords: Algorithmic Bias; Substantive Equality; Social Divisions; Artificial Intelligence; Indian Constitution.