This note analyses the recent landmark case of Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India, dated 25 March 2021, where the Supreme Court of India formally recognised the concept of indirect discrimination under Articles 14 and 15(1) of the Indian Constitution. Despite the favourable outcome and conceptual leaps in acknowledging that indirect discrimination is closely tied to substantive equality, the reasoning in the judgment does not fully cohere with these conceptual insights. This note critically examines how Nitisha poses barriers to addressing indirect discrimination with a substantive equality lens, particularly because of an intent-based divide between direct and indirect discrimination, a causal requirement between the norm and disparate impact, adoption of mirror comparators and the lack of clarity on justifications.

本说明分析了最近于 2021 年 3 月 25 日发生的具有里程碑意义的Lt Col Nitisha v Union of India 案，其中印度最高法院根据《印度宪法》第 14 条和第 15(1) 条正式承认了间接歧视的概念。尽管在承认间接歧视与实质性平等密切相关方面取得了有利的结果和概念上的飞跃，但判决中的推理与这些概念上的见解并不完全一致。这篇笔记批判性地研究了Nitisha如何对以实质性平等视角解决间接歧视构成障碍，特别是因为直接歧视和间接歧视之间存在基于意图的分歧，规范与不同影响之间存在因果关系，采用镜像比较器以及缺乏明确的理由。