Residence qualification for public employment must stay within State-wide limits; regional residence rules were unconstitutional and invalid.

Article 16(3) permits Parliament to prescribe residence requirements for public employment only within a State or Union territory, and it must be construed narrowly as an exception to the guarantees of equality of opportunity and non-discrimination in public employment. The provision does not extend to residence in a particular part of a State, such as a region, district, city or town. On that basis, the statutory and rule-based residence qualification applied to Telengana posts was beyond constitutional power and was invalid.

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Issues: Whether Parliament under Article 16(3) of the Constitution of India could authorise a requirement of residence in a particular part of a State for public employment, and whether the impugned statutory provision and rule imposing residence qualification for Telengana posts were constitutionally valid.

Analysis: Article 16(1) guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment and Article 16(2) prohibits discrimination on grounds including residence. Article 16(3) is an exception and therefore must receive a narrow construction. The power given to Parliament is to prescribe a requirement of residence within a State or Union territory prior to employment, and the language does not extend to residence in a specified part of a State such as a region, district, city or town. Reading the exception broadly would weaken the general constitutional prohibition against discrimination on the ground of residence. The words "any requirement" control the nature or duration of residence, not its location within a State.

Conclusion: The constitutional power under Article 16(3) does not extend to prescribing residence in a particular part of a State, and Section 3 of the Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act, 1957 and Rule 3 of the Andhra Pradesh Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Rules, 1959, insofar as they applied to Telengana, were unconstitutional and invalid.

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