CONSTITUTIONAL - STATUS OF ARMED FORCES
Para 310 of the Constitution reads,
"310. (1) Except as expressly provided by this Constitution, every person who is a member of a defence service or of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India service or holds any post connected with defence or any civil post under the Union holds office during the pleasure of the President, and every person who is a member of a civil service of a State or holds any civil post under a State holds office during the pleasure of the Governor 3*** of the State. (2)"
Our understanding of the sentence, would place the member of the Defence Service on top of all others, followed by the civil services and then by all India services.
Apparently the makers of the constitution had this order in mind, when the above sentence was framed. The meaning of the constitution is quite clear and has clearly indicated the order of precedence. There has been no amendment to this act.
Para 310 of the Constitution reads,
"310. (1) Except as expressly provided by this Constitution, every person who is a member of a defence service or of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India service or holds any post connected with defence or any civil post under the Union holds office during the pleasure of the President, and every person who is a member of a civil service of a State or holds any civil post under a State holds office during the pleasure of the Governor 3*** of the State. (2)"
Our understanding of the sentence, would place the member of the Defence Service on top of all others, followed by the civil services and then by all India services.
Apparently the makers of the constitution had this order in mind, when the above sentence was framed. The meaning of the constitution is quite clear and has clearly indicated the order of precedence. There has been no amendment to this act.
Any other office order by the Govt of India which is not in line with the above constitutional provisions is unconstitutional and can be struck down by the Honourable Supreme Court of India.
Keeping this in my mind, it is surprising that the 7CPC has unilaterally and unconstitutionally recommended that the Defence Services should now be equated to CPOs or para military service, which is two rungs below.
Keeping this in my mind, it is surprising that the 7CPC has unilaterally and unconstitutionally recommended that the Defence Services should now be equated to CPOs or para military service, which is two rungs below.
This does not give any precedence to any service.
ReplyDeleteNo service takes precedence over any other service. The Table of Precedence (ToP) (previously Warrant of Precedence) gives the order of precedence of individual officers/appointments purely for protocol purposes. In practice, it also determines pay scales.
Earlier, the basic pay of a govt employee determined his/her status. Later, "basic pay" was changed to "top of the scale of basic pay."
The precedence which many people give to the IAS is purely psychological. Of course, with their faster promotions, they get ahead of their contemporaries. Within a particular article of the ToP, the inter se precedence is determined by the date on which the person reached that rank/appointment.
Wg Cdr J Thomas (Retd)
7 CPC appears was not aware of the provisions of Para 310 of the Constitution to interpret as conceived & indicated in the blog posted as " Our understanding of the sentence, would place the member of the Defence Service on top of all others, followed by the civil services and then by all India services.
ReplyDeleteThe errors due to no knowledge or erroneous interpretation of provisions of the Constitution have resulted in not giving defence forces their due. The errors on detection need early correction to conform to the provisions of the Constitution.
Lt Col B B Ghai(Retired)
Email ID:- bbghai@gmail.com
Sir,
ReplyDeleteWe seem to be equal to the civil services of the Union of India meaning IAS, IPS, etc.from the text you have reproduced.
Kindly elucidate.
-Wg Cdr Ravindra Parasnis (Retd)
Dear Veterans,
ReplyDelete1. Article 310 of Constitution of India, merely lays down the policy that all Military and Civil Services employees of All India Service or Organised Group A Service, at the Centre, serve during the "pleasure of the President". Equivalent State Service employees serve during the "pleasure of the Governor" of the State.
2. Nowhere, the inter-se seniority or order of Precedence, for "Military and Civil Services", is defined under Article 310. As far as the Protocol is concerned, "Warrant of Precedence" issued by central Govt. clearly lays down different levels of seniority or otherwise for all constitutional posts.
3. Central Pay commissions,seem to have erroneously equated Military Service to be at par or below Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), applying their own weird unfathomable logic.
With good wishes and warm regards,
Col Nitteguthu Sharath Bhandary, Veteran,
Mangaluru, Karnataka. Telephone : 9448146366.
E-mail: nscbhandary@gmail.com
There are two aspects one intangible and second tangible very fact it appears ahead of all services the precedence has to be interpreted accordingly.The very freedom and upholding the constitution is primarily the duty of its Armed Forces in a democracy.We In India by tradition subjugates to civil governance and it is misread by the bureaucrats.It does not in any way mean to subjugate them either intangibly or tangibly.
ReplyDeleteThen why not any one from Armed Forces have filed a case for such a discrimination. What are we waiting for? It is such kind of attitude make defence much inferior to all others.
ReplyDelete