A legislation which confers on the executive or administrative authority an unguided and uncontrolled discretionary power in the matter of application of law violates which one of the following Articles of the Constitution of India?

The correct answer is A, Article 14. Article 14 guarantees equality before the law and the equal protection of the laws. The Supreme Court has held that a law which hands an official unguided and uncontrolled discretion to apply it to some people and not to others is arbitrary, because two persons in the same position could be treated differently at the official's whim. Arbitrariness is the opposite of equality, a principle the Court stated firmly in E.P. Royappa (1974) and Maneka Gandhi (1978). A law that gives discretion is valid only when it also lays down a policy or guidelines to control how that power is used; otherwise it is struck down under Article 14. Option B is wrong because Article 28 deals with religious instruction in educational institutions run or aided by the State. Option C is wrong because Article 32 is the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcing Fundamental Rights, a remedy rather than the right violated here. Option D is wrong because Article 44 is the Directive Principle on a Uniform Civil Code. Exam tip: unguided discretion means arbitrariness, and arbitrariness violates Article 14.