Public Service Commissions
Chapter
II Public Service Commissions
Article
315 Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the States
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this article, there shall be a Public
Service Commission for the Union and a Public Service Commission for
each State.
(2) Two or more States may agree that there shall be
one Public Service Commission for that group of States, and if a
resolution to that effect is passed by the House or, where there are
two Houses, by each House of the Legislature of each of those States,
Parliament may by law provide for the appointment of a Joint State
Public Service Commission (referred to in this Chapter as Joint
Commission) to serve the needs of those States.
(3) Any such law
as aforesaid may contain such incidental and consequential provisions
as may be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the purposes of
the law.
(4) The Public Service Commission for the Union, if
requested so to do by the Governor of a State, may, with the approval
of the President, agree to serve all or any of the needs of the
State.
(5) References in this Constitution to the Union Public
Service Commission or a State Public Service Commission shall, unless
the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to the
Commission serving the needs of the Union or, as the case may be, the
State as respects the particular matter in question.
Article
316 Appointment and term of office of members
(1) The
Chairman and other members of a Public Service Commission shall be
appointed, in the case of the Union Commission or a Joint Commission,
by the President, and in the case of a State Commission, by the
Governor of the State: Provided that as nearly as may be one-half of
the members of every Public Service Commission shall be persons who
at the dates of their respective appointments have held office for at
least ten years either under the Government of India or under the
Government of a State, and in computing the said period of ten years
any period before the commencement of this Constitution during which
a person has held office under the
Crown in India or under the
Government of an Indian State shall be included.
(1A) If the
office of the Chairman of the Commission becomes vacant or if any
such Chairman if by reason of absence or for any other reason unable
to perform the duties of his office, those duties shall, until some
person appointed under clause (1) to the vacant office has entered on
the duties thereof or, as the case may be, until the Chairman has
resumed his duties, be performed by such one of the other members of
the Commission as the President, in the case of the Union Commission
or a Joint Commission, and the Governor of the State in the case of a
State Commission, may appoint for the purpose.
(2) A member of a
Public Service Commission shall hold office for a term of six years
from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains,
in the case of the Union Commission, the age of sixty-five years, and
in the case of a State Commission or a Joint Commission, the age of
sixty-two years, whichever is earlier: Provided that -
(a) a
member of a Public Service Commission may, by writing under his hand
addressed, in the case of the Union Commission or a Joint Commission,
to the President, and in the case of a State Commission, to the
Governor of the State, resign his office;
(b) a member of a
Public Service Commission may be removed from his office in the
manner provided in clause (1) or clause (3) of article 317.
(3)
A person who holds office as a member of a Public Service Commission
shall, on the expiration of his term of office, be ineligible for
re-appointment to that office.
Article
317 Removal and suspension of a member of a Public Service
Commission
(1) Subject to the provisions of clause
(3), the Chairman or any other member of a Public Service Commission
shall only be removed from his office by order of the President on
the ground of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on reference
being made to it by the President, has, on inquiry held in accordance
with the procedure prescribed in that behalf under article 145,
reported that the Chairman or such other member, as the case may be,
ought on any such ground to be removed.
(2) The President, in
the case of the Union Commission or a Joint Commission, and the
Governor in the case of a State Commission, may suspend from office
the Chairman or any other member of the Commission in respect of whom
a reference has been made to the Supreme Court under clause (1) until
the President has passed orders on receipt of the report of the
Supreme Court on such reference.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in
clause (1), the President may by order remove from office the
Chairman or any other member of a Public Service Commission if the
Chairman or such other member, as the case may be, -
(a) is
adjudged an insolvent; or
(b) engages during his term of office
in any paid employment outside the duties of his office; or
(c)
is, in the opinion of the President, unfit to continue in office by
reason of infirmity of mind or body.
(4) If the Chairman or any
other member of a Public Service Commission is or becomes in any way
concerned or interested in any contract or agreement made by or on
behalf of the Government of India or the Government of a State or
participates in any way in the profit thereof or in any benefit or
emolument arising therefrom otherwise than as a member and in common
with the other members of an incorporated company, he shall, for the
purposes of clause (1), be deemed to be guilty of misbehaviour.
Article
318 Power to make regulations as to conditions of service of members
and staff of the Commission
In the case of the Union
Commission or a Joint Commission, the President and, in the case of a
State Commission, the Governor of the State may by regulations -
(a)
determine the number of members of the Commission and their
conditions of service; and
(b) make provision with respect to
the number of members of the staff of the Commission and their
conditions of service:
Provided that the conditions of service
of a member of a Public Service Commission shall not be varied to his
disadvantage after his appointment.
Article
319 Prohibition as to the holding of offices by members of Commission
on ceasing to be such members
On ceasing to hold office
-
(a) the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission shall
be ineligible for further employment either under the Government of
India or under the Government of a State;
(b) the Chairman of a
State Public Service Commission shall be eligible for appointment as
the Chairman or any other member of the Union Public Service
Commission or as the Chairman of any other State Public Service
Commission, but not for any other employment either under the
Government of India or under the Government of a State;
(c) a
member other than the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission
shall be eligible for appointment as the Chairman of the Union Public
Service Commission or as the Chairman of a State Public Service
Commission, but not for any other employment either under the
Government of India or under the Government of a State;
(d) a
member other than the Chairman of a State Public Service Commission
shall be eligible for appointment as the Chairman or any other member
of the Union Public Service Commission or as the Chairman of that or
any other State Public Service Commission, but not for any other
employment either under the Government of India or under the
Government of a State.
Article
320 Functions of Public Service Commissions
(1) It
shall be the duty of the Union and the State Public Service
Commissions to conduct examinations for appointment to the services
of the Union and the services of the State respectively.
(2) It
shall also be the duty of the Union Public Service Commission, if
requested by any two or more States so to do, to assist those States
in framing and operating schemes of joint recruitment for any
services for which candidates possessing special qualifications are
required.
(3) The Union Public Service Commission or the State
Public Service Commission, as the case may be, shall be consulted
-
(a) on all matters relating to methods of recruitment to civil
services and for civil posts;
(b) on the principles to be
followed in making appointments to civil services and posts and in
making promotions and transfers from one service to another and on
the suitability of candidates for such appointments, promotions or
transfers;
(c) on all disciplinary matters affecting a person
serving under the Government of India or the Government of a State in
a civil capacity, including memorials or petitions relating to such
matters;
(d) on any claim by or in respect of a person who is
serving or has served under the Government of India or the Government
of a State or under the Crown in India or under the Government of an
Indian State, in a civil capacity, that any costs incurred by him in
defending legal proceedings instituted against him in respect of acts
done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty should be
paid out of the Consolidated Fund of India, or, as the case may be,
out of the Consolidated Fund of the State;
(e) on any claim for
the award of a pension in respect of injuries sustained by a person
while serving under the Government of India or the Government of a
State or under the Crown in India or under the Government of an
Indian State, in a civil capacity, and any question as to the amount
of any such award,
and it shall be the duty of a Public Service
Commission to advise on any matter so referred to them and on any
other matter which the President, or, as the case may be, the
Governor of the State, may refer to them:
Provided that the
President as respects the all-India services and also as respects
other services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union,
and the Governor, as respects other services and posts in connection
with the affairs of a State, may make regulations specifying the
matters in which either generally, or in any particular class of case
or in any particular circumstances, it shall not be necessary for a
Public Service Commission to be consulted.
(4) Nothing in clause
(3) shall require a Public Service Commission to be consulted as
respects the manner in which any provision referred to in clause (4)
of article 16 may be made or as respects the manner in which effect
may be given to the provisions of article 335.
(5) All
regulations made under the proviso the clause (3) by the President or
the Governor of a State shall be laid for not less than fourteen days
before each House of Parliament or the House or each House of the
Legislature of the State, as the case may be, as soon as possible
after they are made, and shall be subject to such modifications,
whether by way of repeal or amendment, as both Houses of Parliament
or the House or both Houses of the Legislature of the State may make
during the session in which they are so laid.
Article
321 Power to extend functions of Public Service Commissions
An
Act made by Parliament or, as the case may be, the Legislature of a
State may provide for the exercise of additional functions by the
Union Public Service Commission or the State Public Service
Commission as respects the services of the Union or the State and
also as respects the services of any local authority or other body
corporate constituted by law or of any public institution.
Article
322 Expenses of Public Service Commissions
The expenses of
the Union or a State Public Service Commission, including any
salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the
members or staff of the Commission, shall be charged on the
Consolidated Fund of India, as the case may be, the Consolidated Fund
of the State.
Article
323 Reports of Public Service Commissions
(1) It shall
be the duty of the Union Commission to present annually to the
President a report as to the work done by the Commission and on
receipt of such report the President shall cause a copy thereof
together with a memorandum explaining, as respects the cases, if any,
where the advice of the Commission was not accepted, the reasons for
such non-acceptance to be laid before each House of Parliament.
(2)
It shall be the duty of a State Commission to present annually to the
Governor of the State a report as to the work done by the Commission,
and it shall be the duty of a Joint Commission to present annually to
the Governor of each of the States the needs of which are served by
the Joint Commission a report as to the work done by the Commission
in relation to that State, and in either case the Governor, shall, on
receipt of such report, cause a copy thereof together with a
memorandum explaining, as respects the cases, if any, where the
advice of
the Commission was not accepted, the reasons for such
non-acceptance to be laid before the Legislature of the State.
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