 bill no xii of  2016 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2016 a bill further to amend the constitution of indiabe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the constitution (amendment) act, 2016short title, and commencement5(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, bynotification in the official gazette, appoint2 in article 15 of the constitution,—amendment of article 15(i) in clause (1) for the word "sex" the words "sex, gender, sexual orientation"shall be substituted;(ii) in clause (2) for the word "sex" the words "sex, gender, sexual orientation"shall be substitutedamendment of article 163 in article 16 of the constitution, in clause (2), for the word ''sex'', the words ''sex, gender, sexual orientation shall be substituted statement of object and reasonsas our nation evolves, it is important that our constitution also evolves to address new challenges and situations, while adhering to its eternal foundational values today, we are faced with a situation where article 15 of the constitution needs to be extended article 15 directs the state to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth over the years, challenges posed in the courts on these grounds have transformed this formal, legal provision of non-discrimination  into an effort towards achieving substantive equality therefore, it is time that our fundamental rights explicitly counter exclusion on the basis of gender and sexual orientationparliament has a primary responsibility in this regard, underscored by the supreme court's 2013 judgment in suresh kumar kaushal v naz foundation the supreme court struck down delhi high court's decision to read down section 377 and specifically called upon parliament to lead the waycurrently, article 15 has a closed list of five specified grounds—religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth the same grounds are also applicable to article 16 which guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment other countries have taken a more lenient view of the grounds on which basis, discrimination is acknowledged and remedied constitutions like that of canada, and south africa have used to terms 'grounds such as', 'including', in particular' or 'other status' to indicate that the list is not exhaustive and leaves space for terpretation, to include unenumerated or analogous grounds article14 of the european convention of human rights and section 9 of the south african constitution contain the most wide ranging list of expressly prohibited grounds and the fourteenth amendment of the united states constitution is entirely open-ended, leaving the courts to determine which grounds should be protectedindia too to seeing a convergence with more liberal non-discrimination clauses the indra sawhney v union of india (1992) judgement indicated that those grounds, "that are not specified in article 15 but are analogous to those specified therein, and which have the potential to impair the personal autonomy of an individual" must upon scrutiny, be able to claim protection under article 15however, leaving it to the judicial system alone to respond to issues of inequality on the basis of sexuality and gender may not be adequate it is high time to challenge inequality on the basis of sexual orientation and gender by explicitly expanding article 15 and article 16 to ensure substantive equalityhence this bill annexure extract from the constitution of india          15 (1) the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them(2) no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to—prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment;or(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of state funds or dedicated to the use of the general public           16 (1) there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the stateequality of opportunity in matters of public employment(2) no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the state           rajya  sabha————abillfurther to amend the constitution of india————(prof mv rajeev gowda, mp)gmgipmrnd—674rs(s3)—03-05-2016