Defence Services Pay Rules 2017 under Article 309 of the Constitution of India

As many views/opinions as number of WhatsApp and blogs have been expressed about the MoD utilising Article 309 to promulgate separately, the Army, Navy, and Air Force Pay Rules. Not being an expert on law or the Constitution, I searched the internet to make understand the impact.

 
For a more complete knowledge of the case please see the project on the subject of Article 309 and it being a panacea for some relief for the Armed Forces at    http://kannanpersonal.com/projects/safeguards/constitution1.html

An extract is appended below for setting off you to read the full article. Happy Reading.
 
Constitutional Provisions Governing Service Matters of
Public Servants - Articles 309 & 310

Employees of Nationalised Banks are public servants, but they are neither civil servants, nor are they deemed as the employees of Government of India. Articles 309, 310 or 311 of the Constitution are not directly applicable to officers of the Nationalized Banks. However it is extremely relevant to have a basic knowledge of these Constitutional provisions, as the Conduct and Discipline provisions governing Bank employees are drawn in identical terms with the Government employees keeping in view the spirit of these Constitutional Provisions. The information given hereunder is reproduced from chapter 9 of Vigilance Manual of CVC as published in their web site. The Manual is deemed a confidential document. Chapter 9 deals with an academic or textual subject. Bank officers, who read this may kindly keep this in view. The present policy of the Government is to provide transparency in administration and making all relevant things known to the citizens.

Though proceedings are started under Departmental Inquiries and by way of prosecution under Prevention of Corruption Act, against several persons, not all are punished. This article is intended for the benefit of those innocent officers who face ordeals in their career, as I did face 11 charge sheets by way of persecution and victimization based personal vengence and animosity (for more details refer My Encounters with Corporate Corruption in my Service given in the another page of this site). With this introduction I give an account of the Constitutional Provisions as reproduced from Chapter 9 of CVC Manual.

General

Public servants have got a special relationship with their employer, viz. the Government that is in some aspects different from the relationship under the ordinary law, between the master and servant. It will, therefore, be appropriate to describe briefly the basic provisions of the Constitution pertaining to services. The Chief Vigilance Officers and officers handling vigilance cases will need to bear them in mind while processing disciplinary cases against Government servants.

Power to Make Rules Governing Conditions of Service

Article 309 of the Constitution reads as follows: -

"309. Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Person Serving the Union or a State

"Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Act of the appropriate Legislature may regulate the recruitment, and conditions of service of person appointed to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State:

"Provided that it shall be competent for the President or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, and for the Governor of the State or such person as he may direct in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the State, to make rules regulating the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to such services and posts until provision in that behalf is made by or under an Act of the appropriate Legislature under this article, and any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any such Act".

The above Article empowers the Parliament to make laws to regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union. It also authorities the President to make rules for the above purposes until provision in that behalf is made by or under an Act of Parliament.

Parliament has not so far passed any law on the subject. Recruitment and the conditions of service of Central Government servants in general continue to be governed by rules made by the President under Article 309. The rules made under the Article which are relevant for the present purpose are: -

1. The C.C.S. (Conduct) Rules, 1964.
2. The C.C.S. (C.C.A.) Rules, 1965.
3. The Railway (D.&A.) Rules, 1968.
4. The C.C.S. (T.S.) rules, 1965.

Special Provisions Relating to Certain Categories of Government Servants.

The Constitution also makes special provision relating to conditions of service of certain categories of public services. The more important of these are given below.

All India Services

Under Article 312 of the Constitution, Parliament has enacted the All India Services Act, 1951. Under Sec. 3 of that Act, the President has framed rules regulating various aspects of conditions of services of persons appointed to the All India Services. The three All India Services created so far are

1. the I.A.S.,
2. the I.P.S. and
3. the Indian Forest Service.

Secretariat staff of the Parliament

Article 98 of the Constitution empowers the Parliament to regulate by law the recruitment and conditions of service of person appointed to the secretarial staff of either House of Parliament. However, as no such law has yet been made by the Parliament, the recruitment to the Secretariats of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and the conditions of service of the staff of the two Houses are regulated by the rules made by the President under Article 98 (2) of the Constitution in consultation with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha respectively.

Officers of the Supreme Court

Under Article 146 (2) of the Constitution, conditions of service of officers and servants of the Supreme Court are regulated by rules made by the Chief Justice subject to the approval of the President in certain matters.

Indian Audit and Accounts Department

Under Article 148 (5) the conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Departments are regulated by rules made by President after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. No separate rules have been made by the President under this Article. The rules framed by the President for the other civil services and posts are made applicable to persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department after consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Defence personnel

The conditions of service of the Defence personnel paid out of the Defence Services Estimates and who are subject to the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), the Navy Act, 1957 (62 of 1957) and the Air Force Act, 1950 (45 of 1950) are governed by their respective Acts and the rules made thereunder.