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By virtue of the provisions of Article 313 and Article 372 of the Constitution, the 1947 Rules continued to be in force even after the commencement of the Constitution. But on July 15, 1950 the Governor of Uttar Pradesh promulgated rules for the recruitment of ministerial staff to the subordinate offices in the State of Uttar Pradesh including the offices of subordinate civil courts in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India in supersession of all existing rules and orders on the subject. These rules were called the 'Rules for the Recruitment of Ministerial Staff to the Subordinate Offices, 1950' (hereinafter referred to as 'the 1950 Rules'). Rule 2 of the 1950 Rules defined the term 'Subordinate Office' as including all offices under the control of the Governor of Uttar Pradesh other than those of the Secretariat, the State Legislature, the High Court and the Public Service Commission. Rule 3 of the 1950 Rules provided that the recruitment to the lowest grade of the ministerial staff in a subordinate office shall be made on the basis of a competitive test. Rules 5,6 & 7 of the 1950 Rules read as follows :-

"Judicial (A) Department (1) Offices of Subordinate Civil Courts - August second week"

The 1950 Rules did not, however, expressly say that the 1947 Rules had been superseded by these Rules. But it is significant to note that the 1950 Rules clearly stated that the Governor had framed them in supersession of all existing rules and orders on the subject for recruitment to the ministerial establishment of subordinate offices under his control. The clear effect of the 1950 Rules therefore was that the 1947 Rules stood superseded by the 1950 Rules as regards the subjects prescribed for the test and the manner of the examination to be held for the purpose of selecting candidates for the ministerial staff in the Civil Courts of the State of Uttar Pradesh. To be precise, rules 9 to 12 and Appendix II of the 1947 Rules were superseded. The two reasons in support of G the above view are : (i) that in the definition of the expression 'Subordinate Office' only the offices of the Secretariat, the State Legislature, the High Court and the Public Service Commission stood excluded and

While following the procedure laid down in existing rules, published under Government Notification No.0-111/-XI- 8-50 dated July 11, 1950 (which was adopted in supersession of rules 9 to 12 of the U.P. Subordinate Civil Courts Ministerial Establishment Rules 1947) and amplified in G.O. No. 0-2248/II-8-1950 dated August 30, 1950, the District Judge should in addition himself advertise his requirement under intimation to the Employment Exchange and while doing so he should take care to make it clear that all applications are to be addressed to him and routed through the Employment Exchange. The District Judge should further require that candidates should send advance copies of their applications direct to the District Judge which would go to ascertain p whether all applications have been forwarded to him by the Employment Exchange or not. However, if on receiving the applications from the Employment Exchange, it is found that applications of certain suitable candidates have been withheld by the Employment Exchange, the District Judge may in his discretion, permit such candidates to take the test as contemplated in paragraph 7 of the G.O. dated August 30, 1950 referred to earlier. In the case of candidates who are appointed to fill up casual vacancies without appearing in the regular test prescribed under the rules and are already working on the staff of the civil court concerned, they should be treated as departmental candidates and should be allowed to take the test without any reference to the Employment Exchange in order to enable them to qualify for regular appointment.
Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court, the appellant who was one of the selected candidates in the Kanpur examination, has filed this appeal by special leave.
In this case the deficiencies in the drafting of the rules and the inadvertence on the part of the High Court in complying with them pose some difficulty in arriving at a just solution. There is no dispute that the 1947 Rules made appropriate provisions regarding the recruitment of candidates to the posts in the ministerial establishment in the Subordinate Courts in the former United Provinces and they continued to be in force till July 11, 1950. On July 11, 1950 the 1950 Rules were promulgated. They were applicable not merely to the ministerial establishments in Civil Courts but to the ministerial establishments in several other offices. They were promulgated in supersession of all existing rules and orders on the subject. They prescribed that recruitment to the ministerial staff in a subordinate office to which the said rules were applicable should be made on the basis of a competitive test and also provided for the mode of calculation of vacancies, the period during which competitive examinations should be held, the subjects for the test and the marks assigned to each of them and the method of selection of successful candidates. They also provided that appointments to higher posts in the ministerial staff of those offices should be made by promotion. Rules 9 to 12 of the 1947 Rules and Appendix II to it which dealt with above topics thus stood superseded. The other parts of the 1947 Rules which dealt with the nationality domicile and residence of the candidates, their academic qualifications, character and physical fitness, the appointing authority, probation and confirmation, seniority, punishment, rate of pay, transfers and regulations of conditions of service remained intact since the 1950 Rules did not make any provision as regards these topics. Hence we do not agree with the argument urged on behalf of the appellant that the 1947 Rules stood superseded in their entirety by the 1950 Rules relying upon the opening words of the 1950 Rules which read thus : G "In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 309 of the Constitution of India, and in supersession of all existing rules and orders on the subject.................