Government of India Act 1935

Recruitment by Secretary of State and provisions as to certain posts.

244 Services recruited by Secretary of State.

(1) As from the commencement of Part III of this Act appointments to the civil services known as the Indian Civil Service, the Indian Medical Service (Civil), and the Indian Police Service (which last-mentioned service shall thereafter be known as " the Indian Police ") shall, until Parliament otherwise determines, be made by the Secretary of State.

(2) Until Parliament otherwise determines, the Secretary of State may also make appointments to any service or services which at any time after the said date he may deem it necessary to establish for the purpose of securing the recruitment of suitable persons to fill civil posts in connection with the discharge of any functions of the Governor-General which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to exercise in his discretion.

(3) The respective strengths of the said services shall be such as the Secretary of State may from time to time prescribe, and the Secretary of State shall in each year cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a statement of the appointments made thereto and the vacancies therein.

(4) It shall be the duty of the Governor-General to keep the Secretary of State informed as to the operation of this section, and he may after the expiration of such period as he thinks fit make recommendations for the modification thereof.

In discharging his functions under this subsection, the Governor-General shall act in his discretion.

245 Special provision as to irrigation.

Until Parliament otherwise determines, the Secretary of State may for the purpose of securing efficiency in irrigation in any Province, appoint persons to any civil service of, or civil post under, the Crown in India concerned with irrigation.

246 Reserved posts.

(1) The Secretary of State shall make rules specifying the number and character of the civil posts under the Crown (other than posts in connection with any functions of the Governor-General which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to exercise in his discretion), which, subject to the provisions of this subsection, are to be filled by persons appointed by the Secretary of State to a civil service of, or a civil post under, the Crown in India, and except under such conditions as may be prescribed in the rules no such post shall, without the previous sanction of the Secretary of State—

(a) be kept vacant for more than three months; or

(b) be filled otherwise than by the appointment of such a person as aforesaid; or

(c) be held jointly with any other such post.

(2) Appointments and postings to the said posts (hereinafter in this Part of this Act referred to as " reserved posts ") shall—

(a) in the case of posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation, be made by the Governor-General, exercising his individual judgment;

(b) in the case of posts in connection with the affairs of a Province, be made by the Governor of the Province, exercising his individual judgment.

(3) All rules made under this section shall, so soon as may be after they are made, be laid before each House of Parliament and, if either House of Parliament within the next subsequent twenty-eight days on which that House has sat after any such rule has been laid before it resolves that the rule shall be annulled, the rule shall thenceforth be void but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making of a new rule.

247 Conditions of service, pensions, &c. of persons recruited by Secretary of State.

(1) The conditions of service of all persons appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State shall—

(a) as respects pay, leave and pensions, and general rights in regard to medical attendance, be such as may be prescribed by rules to be made by the Secretary of State;

(b) as respects other matters with respect to which express provision is not made by this chapter, be such as may be prescribed by rules to be made by the Secretary of State in so far as he thinks fit to make such rules, and, in so far and so long as provision is not made by such rules, by rules to be made, as respects persons serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General or some person or persons authorised by the Governor-General to make rules for the purpose and, as respects persons serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, by the Governor of the Province or some person or persons authorised by the Governor to make rules for the purpose:

Provided that no rule made under this subsection shall have effect so as to give to any person appointed to a civil service or civil post by the Secretary of State less favourable terms as respects remuneration or pension than were given to him by the rules in force on the date on which he was first appointed to his service or was appointed to his post.

(2) Any promotion of any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State or any order relating to leave of not less than three months of any such person, or any order suspending any such person from office shall, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, be made by the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment and, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, be made by the Governor exercising his individual judgment.

(3) If any such person as aforesaid is suspended from office, his remuneration shall not during the period of his suspension be reduced except to such extent, if any, as may be directed by the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment or, as the case may be, by the Governor exercising his individual judgment.

(4) The salary and allowances of any such person as aforesaid shall, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, be charged on the revenues of the Federation and, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, be charged on the revenues of the Province:

Provided that, if any such person is serving in connection with the railways in India, so much only of his salary and allowances shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation as is not paid out of the Railway Fund.

(5) Pensions payable to or in respect of any such person as aforesaid, and government contributions in respect of any such person to any pension fund or provident fund, shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation.

(6) No award of a pension less than the maximum pension allowable under rules made under this section shall be made, except in each case with the consent of the Secretary of State.

(7) No rules made under this section shall be construed to limit or abridge the power of the Secretary of State to deal with the case of any person serving His Majesty in a civil capacity in India in such manner as may appear to him to be just and equitable, and no rules made under this section by any person other than the Secretary of State shall be construed to limit or abridge the power of the Governor-General or, as the case may be, the Governor of a Province to deal with the case of any such person in such manner as may appear to him to be just and equitable :

Provided that, where any rule made under this section is applicable to the case of any person, the case shall not be dealt with in any manner less favourable to him than that provided by the rule.

248 Rights in respect of complaints, appeals, &c.

(1) If any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State is aggrieved by an order affecting his conditions of service and on due application to the person by whom the order was made does not receive the redress to which he considers himself entitled, he may, without prejudice to any other mode of obtaining redress, complain, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, to the Governor-General and, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, to the Governor of the Province, and the Governor-General or Governor, as the case may be, shall examine into the complaint and cause such action to be taken thereon as appears to him exercising his individual judgment to be just and equitable.

(2) No order which punishes or formally censures any such person as aforesaid, or affects adversely his emoluments or rights in respect of pension, or decides adversely to him the subject-matter of any memorial, shall be made except, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General, exercising his individual judgment, or, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, by the Governor of that Province, exercising his individual judgment.

(3) Any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State may appeal to the Secretary of State against any order made by any authority in India which punishes or formally censures him, or alters or interprets to his disadvantage any rule by which his conditions of service are regulated.

(4) Any sums ordered to be paid out of the revenues of the Federation or a Province to or in respect of any such person as aforesaid on an appeal made under this section shall be charged on those revenues.

249 Compensation.

(1) If by reason of anything done under this Act the conditions of service of any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State have been adversely affected, or if for any other reason it appears to the Secretary of State that compensation ought to be granted to, or in respect of, any such person, he or his representatives shall be entitled to receive from the revenues of the Federation, or if the Secretary of State so directs, from the revenues of a Province, such compensation as the Secretary of State may consider just and equitable.

(2) Any sum payable under this section from the revenues of the Federation or the revenues of a Province shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation or, as the case may be, that Province.

(3) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the foregoing provisions of this section in no way prohibit expenditure by the Governor-General, or, as the case may be, the Governor, from the revenues of the Federation or a Province by way of compensation to persons who are serving or have served His Majesty in India in cases to which those provisions do not apply.