otherwise requires, the General Clauses Act shall apply for the interpretation of the Constitution. Section 3(58) of the General Clauses Act defines “State” to mean a State specified in the First Schedule and includes a Union Territory.
127. GNCTD contends that this Court in Prem Kumar Jain (supra) has expressly sanctified the existence of services of a Union Territory by holding that the definition of “State” would include Union territories for the purpose of Article 312 of the Constitution. The Union has argued that the decision in Prem Kumar Jain was limited for the purpose of the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954[1] read with the All-India Services Act 1951. Furthermore, it was argued that the reference to Article 312 made therein has been made without any reference to the import of Article 308. It is the contention of the Union that interpreting the ratio of Prem Kumar Jain in a broad sense would cause violence to the machinery envisaged in Part XIV of the Constitution.
128. In Prem Kumar Jain, the judgment of the High Court of Delhi setting aside the establishment of a joint cadre exclusively for the Union Territories in the IAS was challenged. Article 312 stipulates that Parliament may by law create “All India Services” common to the Union and the States. A joint cadre of all the Union Territories was created under Rule 3(1) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules 1954.[2] The creation of a new joint cadre was challenged before the High Court on the ground that it was contrary to Article 312 of the Constitution and the All-India Services Act 1951. It was argued that Article 312 does not contemplate an all-India service common to Union territories because the term “State” in the
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