Punjab and Haryana High Court, HPSC and State Commissions

Haryana is one of the few states of India without a High Court of its own. Its judiciary, like that of Punjab and of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, is headed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh, a common High Court of the kind Article 231 of the Constitution allows. Below the court stand the district and sessions courts of the state, and beside it the recruiting and watchdog bodies: the Haryana Public Service Commission for the higher services, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission for Group C and Group D posts, and the commissions for human rights, information, women, child rights and backward classes. HPSC, HSSC, Haryana Police and SSC papers ask this chapter as dates, seats, articles and appointing authorities, every one of them a fixed fact.

From Lahore to Chandigarh

The High Court of Judicature at Lahore, set up in 1919, served the undivided province of Punjab. Partition took Lahore to Pakistan, and the High Court of East Punjab was established at Shimla on 15 August 1947; its first Chief Justice was Sir Eric Weston. When the Constitution came into force the word East was dropped and it became the High Court of Punjab, and in 1955 the court moved to the new capital at Chandigarh. On 1 November 1966 the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 carved Haryana out of Punjab, transferred the hill areas to Himachal Pradesh and made Chandigarh a Union Territory; from the same day the court has been the Punjab and Haryana High Court, with jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. It has no permanent Bench anywhere else, so every writ petition from Haryana is filed at Chandigarh. The dates to keep apart are 1919 Lahore, 1947 Shimla, 1955 Chandigarh and 1966 the present name.

The High Court in the Constitution

Article 214 gives every state a High Court and Article 231 allows Parliament to establish one High Court for two or more states or for a state and a Union Territory, which is the basis of the arrangement Haryana shares. Article 215 makes a High Court a court of record with the power to punish for contempt. Article 216 says the court consists of a Chief Justice and such other judges as the President may from time to time appoint, so the Constitution fixes no maximum strength. Under Article 217 a judge is appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the state and, for a judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of that High Court, and he holds office until the age of 62 years; the qualification is Indian citizenship with ten years in judicial office or ten years as an advocate of a High Court. The oath is taken before the Governor under Article 219, the salaries are charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State under Article 221, and transfer from one High Court to another is made by the President under Article 222 after consulting the Chief Justice of India. Article 226 gives the court its wide power to issue writs, wider than that of the Supreme Court under Article 32 because it covers not only fundamental rights but any other legal right, and Article 227 gives it superintendence over all courts and tribunals in its territory. A judge can be removed only by the President after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of its total membership and two-thirds of the members present and voting.

The courts below

Each district of Haryana has a District and Sessions Judge at its head, with additional district judges, civil judges and judicial magistrates under him. Article 233 says a district judge is appointed, posted and promoted by the Governor in consultation with the High Court, and that an advocate of seven years' standing may be appointed directly. Article 234 governs the recruitment of other judicial officers, made by the Governor on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission and in consultation with the High Court, and Article 235 vests the control of the district courts and the courts subordinate to them, including the posting, promotion and leave of officers, in the High Court. The state also runs permanent and national Lok Adalats and a State Legal Services Authority under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, whose patron-in-chief is the Chief Justice of the High Court.

Haryana Public Service Commission

HPSC was constituted in 1966, when the state was formed, and its office is at Panchkula. It is a constitutional body under Part XIV of the Constitution: Article 315 provides a Public Service Commission for each state, Article 316 lets the Governor appoint the chairman and members for six years or until the age of 62, whichever is earlier, and requires that nearly half of them shall be persons who have held office under the Union or a state for at least ten years. A member may resign to the Governor, but under Article 317 he can be removed only by the President on the report of the Supreme Court after an inquiry into misbehaviour; the Governor may suspend him while the reference is pending. Article 320 lists the functions, among them the conduct of examinations for appointment to the services of the state and consultation on recruitment, promotions, transfers and disciplinary matters. Article 322 charges the expenses of the commission on the Consolidated Fund of the State, so they are not voted upon by the legislature, and Article 323 requires the commission to present an annual report to the Governor, which is laid before the state legislature with a memorandum explaining where its advice was not accepted. HPSC conducts the Haryana Civil Services and allied examinations and recruits to Group A and Group B posts.

HSSC and the state commissions

Two threads run through all of them and both are examined. The first is who appoints and who removes: the Governor appoints a member of HPSC, of the State Human Rights Commission and of the State Information Commission, but a member of HPSC or of the human rights commission can be removed only by the President, while the State Election Commissioner enjoys the protection given to a judge of a High Court. The second is the source of the power: HPSC is constitutional, the election commission is constitutional, and the human rights, information, child rights and consumer commissions are statutory, created by Acts of Parliament, with the women's commission created by a state Act. A statutory body can be changed by an ordinary law; a constitutional body cannot.