{"id":94918,"date":"2026-03-31T15:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=94918"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:03:28","slug":"article-317-of-indian-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/article-317-of-indian-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Article 317 of Indian Constitution, Provisions, Judgements, Significance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article 317 of the Indian Constitution deals with the removal and suspension of the Chairman and members of Public Service Commissions (including the Union Public Service Commission and State Public Service Commissions)<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Article 317 of the Indian Constitution Key Provisions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>Removal on the Ground of Misbehaviour: Article 317(1)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> states that the Chairman or any other member of a Public Service Commission shall only be removed from his office by order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour subject to the provisions of Article 317(3). Before removal, the President must refer the matter to the <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/supreme-court-of-india\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Supreme Court of India<\/strong><\/a>, which conducts an inquiry in accordance with the procedures under Article 145.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The President can issue a removal order only if the Supreme Court recommends it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Suspension During Inquiry: Article 317(2)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provides for the suspension of a member during the Supreme Court inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the Union or Joint Public Service Commission, the President may suspend the member.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a State Public Service Commission, the Governor may suspend the member.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The suspension is temporary and continues only until the President receives the Supreme Court\u2019s report and makes a final decision. This provision safeguards both the integrity of the inquiry and the effective functioning of the Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Removal on Other Grounds: Article 317(3)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> allows the President to remove a member without a Supreme Court inquiry in certain circumstances:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the member is declared insolvent.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the member engages in paid employment outside the duties of the office.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the member is, in the President\u2019s opinion, unfit to continue in office by reason of infirmity of mind or body.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Misbehaviour and Conflict of Interest: Article 317(4)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> specifies what constitutes misbehaviour. A member is considered guilty of misbehaviour if they:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are concerned or interested in any contract or agreement made by or on behalf of the Government of India or the Government of a State or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Derive any profit or benefit from such contracts, except where the interest arises solely as a member of a company shared with others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This provision ensures that Public Service Commissions members act with impartiality and do not have any conflicts of interest that could compromise the recruitment process.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Judgements Related to Article 317 of the Indian Constitution<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>In RE: Mepung Tadar Bage<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Supreme Court examined a Presidential reference under Article 317 of the Constitution seeking the removal of Ms. Mepung Tadar Bage, a member of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission, on grounds of alleged misbehaviour relating to the leakage of a Public Service Commission examination question paper. The Supreme Court clarified that:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Misbehaviour under Article 317 requires proof of specific individual acts attributable to the member concerned, not merely systemic or procedural lapses affecting the Commission.\u202f<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Collective responsibility of the Commission does not automatically translate into individual misbehaviour of every member.\u202f<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mere institutional failings or administrative inefficiencies are not sufficient to justify removal; there must be cogent evidence showing individual conduct undermining the office.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Article 317 of the Indian Constitution Significance<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article 317 is significant because it:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Safeguards Institutional Autonomy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Article 317 ensures that the Chairman and members of Public Service Commissions cannot be removed arbitrarily, thereby preserving the independence and impartiality of these <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/constitutional-bodies\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>constitutional bodies<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Accountability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The article provides clear grounds for removal, including misbehaviour, insolvency, outside employment, or physical\/mental incapacity, making members accountable while in office.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Prevention of Conflict of Interest<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The explicit provision that involvement in government contracts constitutes misbehaviour ensures that PSC members act free from personal or financial bias, thereby maintaining integrity in public administration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Maintains Credibility of Recruitment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: By protecting ethical and competent functioning of PSCs, Article 317 ensures a fair, merit-based recruitment system in civil services, which is crucial for effective governance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article 317 highlights provisions for removal and suspension of PSC members, defining misbehaviour, inquiry by Supreme Court, and institutional safeguards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":94927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[6371],"class_list":{"0":"post-94918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-article-317-of-the-indian-constitution","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94918"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95799,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94918\/revisions\/95799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}