Transitional protection of civil service tenure ended with sovereignty change; continuance depended on special orders or arrangements.

The article examines how the Indian Independence Act, 1947, and the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, altered the pre-existing civil service regime under the Government of India Act, 1935. It explains that the earlier contractual-cum-statutory tenure linked to the Secretary of State ceased after the transfer of power, and that continuance in service depended only on the adapted protection provisions and any special orders or arrangements affecting the individual case. On that basis, the respondent's pre-transfer service was treated as ending on the appointed day, and the government's decision not to retain him was treated as effective under the transition scheme.

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Issues: Whether the respondent's service under the Indian Civil Service automatically came to an end on the transfer of power on 15 August 1947, and whether the impugned order was invalid for want of compliance with the statutory protection under section 240 of the Government of India Act, 1935.

Analysis: The service of a person recruited by the Secretary of State was a contractual-cum-statutory tenure under the Government of India Act, 1935, but the Indian Independence Act, 1947, and the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, fundamentally altered that regime. The abolition of the Secretary of State's authority, the cessation of British Government responsibility, and the deletion of the provisions governing Secretary of State services showed that the earlier structure of appointment, control, and protection had disappeared. Section 10(2) of the Indian Independence Act and the adapted provisions of sections 240 and 247 of the Government of India Act, 1935, protected only those who continued in service after the appointed day, and article 7(1) of the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, made such continuance subject to any general or special orders or arrangements affecting the individual case. The pre-transfer circulars, individual intimations, and the Government's decision not to retain the respondent were treated as special orders or arrangements within that provision, and the legislative material was relied upon to understand the transition scheme.

Conclusion: The respondent's service automatically terminated on the emergence of the Indian Dominion, the impugned action was valid, and the declaration sought was not available to him.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory service regime is fundamentally displaced by a constitutional transfer of power, and the successor law preserves continuance only subject to special orders or arrangements affecting the individual case, the service does not survive automatically unless the new authority elects to retain it.

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