provision does not include Union territories. The definition of “State” under Rule 2(c) of the 1954 Cadre Rules, which provides that a State means a “State specified in the First Schedule to the Constitution and includes a Union Territory” was also challenged.
129. In that context, the High Court held that Union territories could not be said to be “States”, and held the definition of “State” under Rule 2(c) of the Cadre Rules to be ultra vires the Constitution and the All India Services Act 1951. The High Court held that the Union Territories were not “States” for the purpose of Part XIV of the Constitution, in view of the definition of “State” in Article 308, which did not include Part C states before its amendment. The High Court reasoned that Union territories are successors of Part C States, and accordingly Union Territories were excluded from the definition of ‘State’ in Part XIV. The High Court declined to place any reliance on the definition of the word ‘State’ in Section 3(58)(b) of the General Clauses Act, as amended in 1956. The High Court reasoned that only the adaptations made in the General Clauses Act under Article 372(2) applied to the interpretation of the Constitution in view of Article 367(1), and accordingly the adaptations made later, by Article 372A, were inapplicable. The High Court observed that:
‘(7) The next question, therefore, is whether the Union Territories are “State” for the purpose of Article 312(1). Article 312 is a part of Chapter XIV of the Constitution, which is significantly entitled “Services under the Union and the States”. Part XIV does not create an All India Service. [...] The key to the meaning of the word "State" used in Part XIV including Articles 309 and 312(1) is provided by the interpretation clause in Article 308. Before the Constitution (VII Amendment) Act, 1956 Article 308 was as follows:
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