Constitution of India · Part XIV: Services Under the Union and the States · Chapter I: Services
Article 309: Recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State
In plain words
Subject to the Constitution, Acts of the appropriate Legislature can regulate recruitment and service conditions for public services and posts under the Union or a State. Until such Acts are made, the President (for the Union) or the Governor (for a State), or persons they direct, can make rules on these matters, subject to any later Act.
A simplified explanation, prepared with AI assistance from the official text below and checked automatically against it for numbers and cross-references. The official text is the law and prevails over this summary. Not legal advice.
Official text
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Acts of the appropriate Legislature may regulate the recruitment, and conditions of service of persons 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 a 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.
Source: India Code (Legislative Department), the official text of the Constitution of India. As amended up to the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023. Text as on 10 September 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the article 309
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Ravi Oraon v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors.
Despite fresh appointment of the appellants, the basic question that survives is whether the termination of services of the appellants, on the ground that their graduation certificates were not valid and they had not…
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Vikram Bhalchandra Ghongade v. The Headmistress Girls High School
Issue arose as to whether the legal heirs of a deceased teacher in an aided school would be entitled to gratuity under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 or under the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension Rules), 1982.
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State by Deputy Superintendent of Police v. B.T. Ramesh & Anr.
Issue arose whether the High Court was justified in quashing the criminal proceedings, on the grounds of the chargesheet having been filed more than four years after the date of the alleged incident and lack of…
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State of Odisha & Ors. v. Jita Luha
Issue arose whether directions issued by the High Court regarding grant of rehabilitation assistance/appointment under the Odisha Civil Service (Rehabilitation Assistance) Rules, 1990 warrants interference in view of…
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R. Ranjith Singh & Ors. v. The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.
The dispute involved in the present case is fixation of inter se seniority in respect of direct recruitment which includes some in-service candidates also recruited under the direct recruitment quota.
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Irwan Kour v. Punjab Public Service Commission & Ors.
Issue arose whether recruitment advertisement issued by the Punjab Public Service Commission providing reservation for “ex-servicemen” would include personnel from the Indian Military Nursing Service.
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The State of Jharkhand & Ors. v. Rukma Kesh Mishra
Whether the order by which the respondent-civil servant was dismissed from service, following disciplinary proceedings, should have been interdicted by the High Court on the ground that the charge-sheet had not been…
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Sajithabai and Ors. v. The Kerala Water Authority and Ors.
Matter pertains to the issue as to a person joining as an Assistant Engineer, has option to migrate to either the degree or diploma quota; and the scope of the Kerala Public Health Engineering Service Special Rules,…
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Rakesh Kumar Charmakar & Ors. v. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.
Whether the appellants were entitled to regular pay scale in light of the circular dated 10.05.1984 issued by the State.
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Parimal Kumar & Ors. v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors.
Issue arose whether on commencement of recruitment process on the date of advertisement, the private respondents or the appellants possessed the minimum qualification prescribed in the 2022 Recruitment Rules; whether…
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Jyostnamayee Mishra v. The State of Odisha and Ors.
Whether an employee in an establishment is entitled to claim promotion on a post for which he does not fall in the feeder cadre and the post is required to be filled up 100% by way of direct recruitment; whether a…
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Dr. Sharmad v. State of Kerala and Others
Whether the High Court was justified in interfering with the order granting promotion to the appellant to the post of Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Education Service, Health and Family Welfare…
- N.N.Kabiraj v. University of Delhi & Anr
- Subhash Rana v. Lt. Governor of Delhi & Ors
- Dr Pramesh Ratnakar v. Lt. Governor of Delhi & Ors
- Dr Suman Bala Manchanda v. Lt. Governor of Delhi & Ors
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Commissioner of Customs v. M/s Canon India Pvt. Ltd.
Issue arose whether there was an “error apparent on the face of the record” for the purpose of entertaining the review petition; whether law laid down in Canon India’s case as regards the power of the DRI to issue show…
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Tej Prakash Pathak & Ors. v. Rajasthan High Court & Ors.
(a) When the recruitment process commences and comes to an end; (b) Basis of the doctrine that ‘rules of the game’ must not be changed during the course of the game, or after the game is played; (c) Whether the decision…
- Sh Hari Kumar S v. Lt. Governor of Delhi & Ors
- Union of India & Ors v. Jagdish Singh & Ors
- Apoorvi Sood v. Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology and Ors
- Dr Priti Bansal v. Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology and Ors
- B Suresh Kumar v. Cpwd Engineers Association & Anr
- DDA v. Vaibhav Malik & Ors
- Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and Anr v. Hari Om Gupta
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Salam Samarjeet Singh v. The High Court of Manipur at Imphal & Anr
Can the executive instructions in form of a resolution of the Full Court (High Court) by prescribing minimum marks for interview, override statutory rules made under Article 234/309; whether the High Court’s decision…
- Hemani Malhotra v. High Court of Delhi
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Bihar Staff Selection Commission & Anr. v. Himal Kumari & Anr. Etc.
The issue pertains to the selection and appointment to the post of City Manager under the Urban Development and Housing Department, Govt. of Bihar. The said post is governed by the Bihar City Manager Cadre (Appointment…
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The State of West Bengal v. Union of India
Instant suit has been filed by the State of West Bengal against Union of India seeking declaration that registration of cases by the defendant-UOI after withdrawal of Notification u/s. 6 of the DSPE Act by the…
- Naresh Kumar Trehan v. University of Delhi and Ors
- Ajay v. Employees State Insurance Corporation & Anr
- Khajan Singh v. Union of India and Ors
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Abhimeet Sinha & Ors. v. High Court of Judicature at Patna & Ors.
Issue arose as regards the constitutionality of the Rules-Bihar Superior Judicial Service Rules, 1951 and Gujarat State Judicial Service Rules, 2005 stipulating minimum qualifying marks in the viva voce test as a part…
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Deependra Yadav and Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others
(i) Whether a fault can be found in the process of normalization and the consequential merger of the marks secured by the candidates who appeared in the two main examinations; (ii) Whether the Rule 4(3)(d)(III) of the…
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Association of Engineers and Others Etc. v. The State of Tamil Nadu and Others Etc.
Validity of appointing Technical Assistants (forming part of state subordinate services) as Assistant Engineers on transfer - challenged.
- Swami Nath Baitha & Ors v. Gk Pillai & Ors
- Prof Dr Mohan Rao & Anr v. Jawaharlal Nehru University & Ors
- Sankara Subbu v. Registrar of Cooperative Societies and Ors
- All India S-30 Pensioners Association and Ors v. Union of India and Ors
- Ms. Dharam Deshna v. University of Delhi and Anr
- Anil Kumar Vishwakarma and Ors v. University of Delhi
- Shreekant Gupta v. University of Delhi & Ors
- Parveen Kumar v. Export Inspection Council & Ors
- Alka Shrivastava v. Indian Council of Social Science Research & Ors
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Dr Kavita Kamboj v. High Court of Punjab and Haryana & Ors
The issue for consideration was a challenge to a decision of the High Court of Punjab & Haryana directing the State of Haryana to take positive action to accept its recommendation vide communication dated 23.02.2023,…
- Ravindra Kumar and Anr v. Technology Infomation, Forecasting and Assessment Council (Tifac) and Ors
- Dr. P. K. Anil Kumar and Ors v. Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (Tifac) and Ors
- Mr Deep Prakash and Ors v. Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (Tifac) and Ors
- Sahebrao Kashinath Muneshwar v. Union of India and Ors
- Deepak Kumar v. Union of India and Ors
- Dalip Kumar and Ors v. Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (Tifac) and Ors
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State of Himachal Pradesh and Others v. Yogendera Mohan Sengupta and Another
What is the Legislative Scheme of the Himachal Pradesh Town & Country Planning Act, 1977 (TCP Act); What is the nature of functions/powers of the Authorities under Chapter-IV of the TCP Act; Whether the NGT could have…
- Government of NCT of Delhi v. Dilawar Singh and Ors
- Renu Dalal and Ors v. Goverment of NCT of Delhi
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State of Haryana and Others v. Dinesh Singh
On a reading of r.9, Haryana Civil Service (Executive Branch) Rules, 2008, letters dated 30.05.2019 and 09.07.2019, whether 01.11.2018 can be said to be the cut-offperiod uniformly applicable qua all the eligibility…
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Union of India & Ors. v. K. Suri Babu
Whether the disciplinary proceedings against the respondent-workman, could be initiated under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965 or it could be done only under the Standing…
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Jaiveer Singh and Others v. The State of
Whether the High Court was justified in holding that 18 months Diploma in Elementary Educ ation-D.El.Ed conducted by National Institute of Open Schooling-NIOS through Open and Distance Learning-ODL mode is equivalent to…
- Dr. Abhay Kumar Srivastava v. Union of India and Anr
- Ankita Thakur & Ors. v. The H.P. Staff Selection
- Department of Defence Research and Development Through Chairman v. Deepti Bhardwaj & Ors
- Union of India and Others v. Dilip Paul
- Sudhir Kumar v. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anr
- Union of India v. Uzair Imran & Ors.
- Director National Sugar Instit v. Presiding Officer Cgit New Del
- Rehmat Fatima v. State of NCT of Delhi Through Principal Secretary & Ors
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Malik Mazhar Sultan v. U P Public Service
The State of Haryana sought a direction that it should be permitted to conduct the entire selection process of recruiting judicial officers through the Public Service Commission and the order dated 12.02.2009 should be…
- Dr Huma Baqa & Ors v. University of Delhi & Ors
- Smt. Krishna Chatterjee v. Director of Education Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors
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Sciences v. Bikartan Das
High Court, if erred in setting aside the order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal and holding that respondent No.1 was entitled to the benefit of enhancement of retirement age from 60 to 65 years as…
- Prof Ajay Tiwari v. Universtiy of Delhi & Ors
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Sivanandan C T and Others v. High Court of Kerala and
Rule 2(c)(iii) of the Kerala State Higher Judicial Services Special Rules 1961 stipulates that 25% of the posts in the category shall be filled by direct recruitment from the Bar “on the basis of aggregate marks/grade…
- Sudeep Raj Saini v. High Court of Delhi & Ors
- Nawal Kishore Jha v. The State and Ors
- Sumit Solanki v. Energy Efficiency Services Limited
- Union of India & Ors v. Smt. Kamla Devi
- Central Pwd Engineers Association and Ors v. Union of India and Anr
- Suresh Gaur v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors
- Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa and Others
- Babli v. Bses Rajdhani Power Ltd. and Anr
- Government of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India
- Janak Raj v. Union of India and Ors
- T. Valsan (D) Thr. Lrs. & Ors. v. K. Kanagaraj & Ors.
- Nina Lath Gupta v. Union of India, Through Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting & Anr
- Ms. Neetu Nagar v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Anr
- India Ltd. v. Vijay D. Kasbe
- Dr Suraiya Tabassum v. Jamia Millia Islamia University Through the Vice Chancellor & Ors
- Dr Meher Fatima Hussain v. Jamia Milia Islamia & Ors
- The Government of Tamil Nadu v. Tamil Nadu
- Bses Yamuna Power Limited v. Virender Nath Diwedi & Ors
- Prof Sabiha Hussain v. Jamiamilia Islamia and Ors
- S K Goel v. M/S Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited & Ors
- State of Orissa v. Orissa Khadi and Village Industries
- Ashok Ram Parhad & Ors. v. The State of
- Rajeev Kumar Dhingra v. Managing Committee Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar & Anr
- Poonam Sharma v. Managing Committee Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar & Anr
- Kuttamparampath Sudha Nair v. Managing Committee Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar & Anr
- Bibha Joshi Sharma v. Managing Committee Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar & Anr
- Mrs Asha Joshi v. Gnctd of Delhi and Ors
- Ashwani Kumar Sharma & Ors v. Union of India
- The State of Uttar Pradesh v. Karunesh Kumar & Ors