No 65 of 1969
Petition under article 32 of the Constitution of India for enforcement of fundamental rights
section V Gupte P A Choudhury and K Rajendra Chaudhuri for the petitioners
M C Setalvad P Ramachandra Rao Advocate General Andhra Pradesh A Raghubir and A V Rangam for respondent No 1
M C Setalvad and R N Sachthey for respondent No 2
R V Pillai H section Gururai Rao and Subodh Markandeya for respondents Nos 3 to 45
Sardar Ali Khan P N Duda and J B Dadachanji for res pondent No 46
P A Choudhury K Rajendra Chaudhuri and C section Sreenivasa Rao for the interveners
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Hidayatullah CJ
The petitioners are persons employed in the ministerial services of the Andhra Pradesh Government
All of them were working in various offices located in the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad
On January 19 1969 leaders of all political parties in the Legislature of the Andhra Pradesh State appeared to have met and reached the decision that to Implement what are called Telengana Safeguards  the following measures should be taken  All non domicile persons who have been appointed either directly by promotion or by transfer to posts reserved under the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Rules 1959 for domiciles of Telengana region will be immediately relieved from service
The posts so rendered vacant will be filled by qualified candidates possessing domicile qualifications and in cases where such candidates are not available the posts shall be left unfilled till qualified domicile candidates become available Action on the above lines will be taken immediately
All non domicile employees so relieved shall be provided employment in the Andhra region without break in service and by creating supernumerary posts if necessary
 117 The Government of Andhra Pradesh then passed an order GOMs 36 GA SR Dept on January 21 1969 relieving before February 28 1969 all non domicile persons appointed on or after November 1 1956 to certain categories of posts reserved for domiciles of Telengana under the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Rules 1959
Names of such incumbents were to be shown in a proforma and they were to be employed in the Andhra region without break in service by creating supernumerary posts if necessary
These supernumerary posts were to be treated as temporary addition to the strength of the office concerned and were to be adjusted against future vacancies in corresponding posts as they arose
The action was based upon section 3 of the Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Act 1957 44 of 1957 which was an Act of Parliament made in pursuance of cl
3 of article 16 of the Constitution making special provision for requirement as to residence and brought into force on March 21 1959
Section 3 of the Act gave the power to make Rules in respect of certain classes of employment in certain areas
It provided 3
Power to make rules in respect of certain classes of public employment in certain areas 1The Central Government may by notification in the Official Gazette make rules prescribing in regard to appointments to aany subordinate service or post under the State Government of Andhra Pradesh or any requirement as to residence within the Telengana area or the said Union territory as the case may be prior to such appointment
2 In this section a     bTelengana area comprises all the territories specified in sub section 1 of section 3 of the  Under section 4 the Rules had to be laid before each House of Parliament for a period of not less than 30 d s and Parliament could make such alterations as it liked
Under section 5 the Rules had a life of 5 years but by subsequent legislation the period was extended to 10 years
It is said that the period 118 is to be extended by another 5 years
The Rules were made on March 21 1959
They are called the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Rules 1959
Rule 3 provides  3
Requirement as to residence Prior to Appointment  A person shall not be eligible for appointment to a post within the Telengana area under the State Government of Andhra Pradesh or to a post under a local authority other than a cantonment board in the said area unless ihe has been continuously residing within the said area for a period of not less than fifteen years immediately preceeding the prescribed date and iihe produces before the appointing authority concerned if so required by it a certificate of eligibility granted under these rules Provided that in relation to posts in the Secretariat Departments and the Offices of the Heads of Departments of the State Government of Andhra Pradesh situated in the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad the requirement as to residence laid down in this rule shall apply to the filling of only the second vacancy in every unit of three vacancies which are to be filled by direct requirement Provided further that any period of temporary absence from Telengana area for the purpose of prosecuting his studies or for undergoing medical treatment or any period of such temporary absence not exceeding three months for any other reason shall not be deemed to constitute a break in the continuity of such residence but for purpose of calculating the said period of fifteen years any such period of temporary absence shall be excluded
 The petitioners were appointed between December 27 1956 and July 4 1968
They challenge the Act the Rules and the proposed action as ultra vires the Constitution
Their case is that article 163 under which the Act and the Rules purport to be made has been misunderstood as conferring a power to make a law prescribing requirement as to residence in a part of a State
For this reason section 3 of the Act is challenged as ultra vires the Constitution
119 Article 16 on which the Act the Rules and the present action are all based reads  16
Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
1There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State
2 No citizen shall on ground only of religion race caste sex descent place of birth residence or any of them be ineligible for or discriminated against in respect of any employment or office under the State
3Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office under the Government of or any local or other authority within a State or Union territory any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment
4    5   
The question is one of construction of this article particularly of the first three clauses to find out the ambit of the law taking power of Parliament
The first clause emphasises that ware shall be in India equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters of employment or appointment to any office under the late
The word State  here is to be understood in the extended use given to it by the definition of that word article 12
The second clause then specifies a prohibition against discrimination only on the grounds of religion race sex descent place of birth residence or any of them
The intention here is make every office or employment open and available to every citizen and inter alia to make offices or employment in one part India open to citizens in all other parts of India
The third pause then makes an exception
This clause was amended by the Constitution Seventh Amendment Act 1956
For the original words of the clause under any State specified in the First schedule or any local or other authority within its territory any requirement as to residence within that State  the present words from under the Government  to Union territory  have been substituted
Nothing turns upon the amendment which seeks to apply of the exception in the clause to Union territory and to remove ambiguity in language
120 The clause thus enables Parliament to make a law in a special case prescribing any requirement As to residence within a State or Union territory prior to appointment as a condition of employment in the State or Union territory
Under article 35a this power is conferred upon Parliament but is denied to the Legislatures of the States notwithstanding anything in the Constitution and under b any law in force immediately before the commencement of the Constitution in respect to the matter shall subject to the terms thereof and subject to such adaptations that may be made under article 372 is to continue in force until altered or repealed or amended by Parliament
The legislative power to create residential qualification for employment is thus exclusively conferred on Parliament
Parliament can make any law which prescribes
any requirement as to residence within the State or Union territory prior to employment or appointment to an office in that State or Union territory
Two questions arise here
Firstly whether Parliament  while prescribing the requirement may prescribe the requirement of residence in a particular part of the State and secondly whether Par liament can delegate this function by making a declaration and leaving the details to be filled in by the rule making power of the Central or State Governments
Mr section V Gupte for the petitioners points out that the Constitution is speaking of State and Union territory
It has already made a declaration that no person shall be disqualified for any office in the territory of India because of his residence in any particular part of India
The exception therefore must be viewed narrowly and not carried to excess by interpretation
The article speaks of residence in a State and means only that
If it chose to speak of residence in parts of State such as Districts talauqas cities towns etc
more appropriate and specific language could have been used such as any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory or part of that State or Union territory 
Having used the word State the unit State is only meant and not any part thereof
Reference is made to the history of the drafting of the Article and the debates in the Constituent Assembly which bear out this contention
On the other hand Mr Setalvad bases his argument on two things
He contends that the power is given to Parliament to make any law and therefore Parliament is supreme and can make any law on the subject as the article says
He very ingeniously shifts the emphasis to the words any requirement  and contends that the requirement may be also as to residence in the State or any particular part of state
121 The claim for supremacy of Parliament is misconceived
Par liament in this as in other matters is supreme only in so far as the Constitution makes it
Where the Constitution does not concede supremacy Parliament must act within its appointed functions and not transgress them
What the Constitution says is a matter forconstruction of the language of the Constitution
Which is the proper construction of the two suggested By the first clause equality of opportunity in employment or appointment to an office is guaranteed
By the second clause there can be no discrimination among other things on the ground of residence
Realising however that sometimes local sentiments may have to be respected or sometimes an inroad from more advance States into less developed States may have to be prevented and a residential qualification may therefore have to be prescribed the exception in clause 3 was made
Even so that clause spoke of residence within the State
The claim of Mr Setalvad that Parliament can make a provision regarding residence in any particular part of a State would render the general prohibition lose all its meaning
The words any requirement  cannot be read to warrant something which could have been said more specifically
These words bear upon the kind of residence or its duration rather than its location within the State
We accept the argument of Mr Gupte that the Constitution as it stands speaks of a whole State as the venue for residential qualification and it is impossible to think that the Constituent Assembly was thinking of residence in Districts Taluqas cities towns or villages
The fact that this clause is an exception and came as an amendment must dictate that a narrow construction upon the exception should be placed as indeed the debates in the Constituent Assembly also seem to indicate
We accordingly reject the contention of Mr Setalvad seeking to put a very wide and liberal construction upon the words any law  and any requirement 
These words are obviously controlled by the words residence within the State or Union territory  which words mean what they say neither more nor less
It follows therefore that section 3 of the Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Act 1957 in so far as it relates to Telengana and we say nothing about the other parts and Rule 3 of the Rules under it are ultra vires the Constitution
In view of our conclusion on this point it is not necessary to express any opinion whether delegation to the Central andor State Governments to provide by rules for the further implementing of the law made by Parliament is valid or not
It was argued that the Mulki Rules existing in the former Hyderabad State must continue to operate by virtue of article 35b in this area
This point is not raised by the petitions under consideration and no expression of opinion by us is desirable
L12 Sup Cl69 9 122 For the reasons given above we quash the orders passed and declare section 3 of the Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Act 1957 as also Rule 3 of the Rules ultra vires the Constitution
The petitions shall be allowed but there shall be no order about costs
Y P Petitions allowed


Summary:
The Parliament enacted the Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Act 1957 in pursuance of cl
3 of article 16 of the Constitution of India making special provision for requirement as to residence in public employment
Section 3 of the Act gave the power to make rules in respect of certain classes of employment in certain areas and accord ingly the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Rules were made prescribing the requirement  as to residence prior to appointment to certain posts within the Telengana area of the State
The petitioners who were non domicile persons appointed to the posts reserved for the domiciles of Telengana under the rules were by an order relieved from their posts and employed in the other region of the State
The petitioners filed a petition under article 32 of the Constitution challenging the Act the Rules and the order as ultra vires the Constitution
Quashing the order this Court HELD  Section 3 of the Public Employment Requirement as to Residence Act 1957 in so far as it related to Telengana and Rule 3 of other Rules under it were ultra vires the Constitution
122 A Clause 3 of article 16 of the Constitution enables Parliament to make a law in a special case prescribing any requirement as to residence within a State or Union Territory prior to appointment in the State or Union Territory
The provision speaks of a whole State as the venue for residential qualification and it is impossible to think that the Constituent Assembly was thinking of residence in Districts Talukas cities towns or villages
The fact that the clause is an exception and came as an amendment must dictate that a narrow construction upon the exception should be placed as indeed the debates in the Constituent Assembly also seem to indicate
The words any law  and any requirement  cannot be given wide and liberal construction
These words are controlled by the words 
residence within the State or Union Territory  which words mean what they say neither more or less
121 D G 116