Indian Corporate Law Service Rules, 2015

Published vide Notification No. G.S.R. 454(E), dated 4th June, 2015

G.S.R. 454(E). – In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution and in supersession of the Indian Corporate Law Service Rules, 2008, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the President hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

1. Short title and commencement. – (1) These rules may be called the Indian Corporate Law Service Rules, 2015.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2.  Definitions. – In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, –

(a) “Commission” means the Union Public Service Commission;

(b) “Controlling Authority” means the Central Government in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs;

(c) “Departmental Promotion Committee” means a Departmental Promotion Committee specified in Schedule III to these rules;

(d) “Duty post” means any post, specified in Schedule I whether permanent or temporary;

(e) “Examination” means the Civil Services Examination held by the Commission for recruitment to Central Services Group ‘A’;

(f) “Government” means the Central Government;

(g) “Grade” means a grade specified in column (2) of Schedule I;

(h) “Other Backward Classes” shall comprise the classes and communities notified by the Central Government from time to time;

(i) “Regular service” in relation to any grade means the period or periods of service in that grade rendered after selection according to prescribed procedure for regular appointment to the grade and includes any period or periods during which an officer would have held a duty post in that grade but for his being on leave, deputation or otherwise not being available for holding such a post;

(j) “Schedule” means a schedule appended to these rules;

(k) “Scheduled Castes” and “Scheduled Tribes” shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (24) and (25) of article 366 of the Constitution; and

(l) “Service” means the Indian Corporate Law Service constituted under rule 3.

3.  Constitution of Indian Corporate Law Service. – (1) The service, known as the Indian Corporate Law Service, shall comprise of five grades namely, Higher Administrative Grade, Senior Administrative Grade, Junior Administrative Grade, Senior Time Scale and Junior Time Scale.
(2) All the posts included in the service shall be classified as Group ‘A’ posts.

4.  Grades, authorised strength and its review. – (1) The duty posts included in the various grades of the Service, their number and the Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale on the date of commencement of these rules shall be as specified in Schedule I.
(2) After the commencement of these rules, the authorised strength of the duty posts in the various grades shall be such as may, from time to time, be determined by the Government.
(3) The Government may, from time to time make such alteration in the sanctioned strength of the duty posts in various grades as it thinks necessary.
(4) The Controlling Authority may, in consultation with the Commission, include in the service such posts (other than those included in Schedule I) as may be deemed equivalent to the posts included in the service in status, grades, [Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale] and professional context, or exclude from the service any posts included in the said Schedule.

(5) The Controlling Authority may, in consultation with the Commission, appoint an officer, whose post is included in the service under sub-rule (4), to the appropriate grade of the service on regular basis, as it thinks fit and fix his seniority in that grade in accordance with the general orders or instructions issued by the Government from time to time.

5.  Members of the Service. – (1) The following persons shall be the members of the Service, namely :-
(a) the existing officers of Indian Corporate Law Service holding duty posts in various grades of the Service on regular basis or holding lien on such posts on the date of commencement of these rules, shall deemed to have been appointed to the duty posts; and

(b) persons appointed to the duty posts under rule 6;

(2) A person referred to in clause (a) of sub-rule (1) shall be a member of the Service in the appropriate grade applicable to him.
(3) A person referred to in clause (b) of sub-rule (1) shall be a member of the Service in the appropriate grade applicable to him from the date of such appointment.
(4) The regular continuous service of officers referred to in sub-rule (1) in the respective corresponding Grades, rendered prior to the commencement of these rules, shall be counted as qualifying service for purpose of seniority, confirmation, promotion, non-functional up-gradation and pension.

6.  Future maintenance of the Service. – The posts in any of the grades shall be governed by and filled in the following manner, namely:-
(a) sixty per cent of the vacancies in the grade of Junior Time Scale shall be filled by direct recruitment on the basis of result of the examination and the remaining forty per cent vacancies arising in the grade shall be filled by promotion of regular incumbents of the posts as specified in Schedule II.

(b) Appointment in the grade of Senior Time scale and above in the Service except Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade) shall be made by promotion on selection basis from officers in the grade immediately below with the minimum qualifying service as specified in column (4) of Schedule II and on the basis of the recommendation of the Departmental Promotion Committee constituted in accordance with the Schedule III.

(c) The appointment to the grade of Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade) of the Service shall be made by placement based on seniority subject to suitability on the basis of eligibility prescribed in column (4) of the Schedule II and on the recommendation of a Screening Committee constituted in accordance with Schedule III.

(d) All officers shall have to complete a mandatory training of 2 to 4 weeks in the relevant area or field as specified by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs before promotion or placement to the grades of Junior Time Scale, Senior Time Scale, Junior Administrative Grade and Junior Administrative Grade (Non Functional Selection Grade).

7.  Non Functional Upgradation. – (1) Whenever an Indian Administrative Services Officer of the State or Joint Cadre is posted at the Centre to a particular grade [in Level 11 to 15 in the Pay Matrix or pay scale], the officers belonging to the batch of Indian Corporate Law Service who are senior by two years or more and have not so far been promoted to that particular grade shall be granted the same grade on non-functional basis from the date of posting of the Indian Administrative Services Officer in that particular grade at the Centre on the recommendation of the Departmental Screening Committee constituted in accordance with Schedule III.
(2) All the prescribed eligibility criteria and promotional norms including ‘benchmark’ for upgradation to a particular [Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale] shall be met at the time of screening for grant of higher [Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale] a per Annexure-I of the Office Memorandum No. AB.14017/64/2008-Estt. (RR) dated the 24th April, 2009 of the Department of Personnel and Training.
(3) The other terms and conditions for grant of higher [Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale] on Non-Functional basis shall be as per the orders and instructions issued on the matter by the Central Government from time to time.

8.  Seniority. – (1) The relative seniority of a member of the Service, appointed to any grade of the Service under initial constitution of the Service referred to in clause (a) of rule 6 shall continue until altered, modified or amended by the Government:
Provided that if the seniority of any such member has not been specifically determined immediately before commencement of these rules, the same shall be determined by the Controlling Authority in accordance with the general orders or instructions issued by the Central Government from time to time.
(2) The seniority of persons appointed to various Grades of the Service on and from the date of commencement of these rules shall be determined in accordance with the general orders or instructions on seniority issued by the Government from time to time.

9.  Probation. – (1) Every officer on appointment to the Service either by direct recruitment or on promotion in the grade of Junior Time Scale of the Service shall be on probation for a period of two years:
Provided that the Controlling Authority may extend the period of probation in accordance with the orders or instructions issued by the Government from time to time in this regard:
Provided further that any decision for extension of the period of probation shall be taken ordinarily within eight weeks after the expiry of the previous period of probation and communicated in writing to the officer together with the reasons for so doing within the said period.
(2) On completion of the period of the probation or any extension thereof, the officers shall, if considered fit for permanent appointment be retained in his appointment on regular basis and be confirmed in due course against the available substantive vacancy.
(3) If during the period of probation or any extension thereof, as the case may be, the Government is of the opinion that an officer is not fit for permanent appointment, the Government may –
(a) if he was appointed by direct recruitment, discharge him from the Service;

(b) if he was appointed on promotion, revert him to the post held by him immediately before such appointment.

(4) During the period of probation or any extension thereof, the officer may be required by the Government to undergo such courses of training and instructions and to pass such examinations and tests as the Government may consider necessary as a condition for satisfactory completion of the probation.
(5) As regards other matters relating to probation, the members of the Service will be governed by the orders or instructions issued by the Government from time to time in this regard.

10.  Appointment to the Service. – All appointments to the Service shall be made by the Controlling Authority for all the duty posts in various grades of the Service.

11.  Liability for service in any part of India and other conditions of Service. – (1) The members appointed to the Service shall be liable to serve anywhere in India or outside.
(2) The conditions of service of the members of the Service in respect of matters for which no provision has been made in these rules shall be the same as are applicable from time to time, to the Group ‘A’ officers of the Central Civil Service.

12.  Deputation. – The Controlling Authority may require any member of the Service to hold for a specified period a post in any other Department of the Government or in any Corporation owned or controlled by the Government.

13.  Disqualification. – No person, –
(a) who, has entered into or contracted a marriage with a person having a spouse living; or

(b) who, having a spouse living, has entered into or contracted a marriage with any person, shall be eligible for appointment to the Service:

Provided that the Government may, if satisfied that such marriage is permissible under the personal law applicable to such person and the other party to the marriage and that there are other grounds for so doing, exempt any person from the operation of this rule.

14.  Power to relax. – Where the Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do, it may by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, and in consultation with the Commission relax any of the provisions of these rules with respect to any class or category or persons.

15.  Saving. – Nothing in these rules shall affect reservation, relaxation of age limit and other concessions required to be provided for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Ex-servicemen and other special categories of persons in accordance with the orders issued by the Government from time to time in this regard.

16.  Interpretation. – If any question relating to interpretation of these rules arise, it shall be decided by the Central Government in consultation with the Commission.

Schedule-I

[See rules 2(d) and 4]

Designation, Number and [Level in the Pay Matrix or pay scale] of duty posts included in the various grade of the Indian Corporate Law Service

Note: The Junior Administrative Grade (Selection Grade) is Non-functional and the maximum number of posts in this grade shall be equal to 30 per cent of the Senior Duty Posts (i.e. all duty posts at the level of Senior Time Scale and above in the service) and the maximum number of posts in this grade shall be limited to the number of sanctioned posts in the Junior Administrative Grade.

Schedule – II

[See rule 6]

(i) Method of recruitment, field of selection and minimum qualifying service in the next lower grade for appointment of officers on promotion to duty posts included in the various grades of the Indian Corporate Law Service.

(ii) Field of selection, minimum qualifying service and method for grant of Non-Functional Selection Grade to Junior Administrative Grade officers of the Indian Corporate Law Service.

Note : 1. Officers who have completed five years of regular service in case of those who are directly recruited in the Junior Administrative Grade prior to coming into force of these rules shall also be considered for Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade).

Note : 2. Officers who have completed ten years of regular service in case of those who are directly recruited in the Senior Time Scale prior to coming into force of these rules and holding the post in the Junior Administrative Grade shall also be considered for Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade).

Note : 3. The Junior Administrative Grade Officers who entered the service by the method of promotion in the Junior Time Scale of Indian Corporate Law Service Group ‘A’ shall also be considered eligible for appointment in the Junior Administrative Grade (Non-Functional Selection Grade), provided they have entered the fourteenth year of service in Group ‘A’ by following the Rules governing seniority along with officers who entered the fourteenth year of service through the method of direct recruitment.

Note : 4. Where juniors who have completed their qualifying or eligibility service are being considered for promotion, to any of the above mentioned five promotion grade, the seniors would also be considered provided they are not short of the requisite qualifying service/eligibility service by more than half of such qualifying or eligibility service or two years, whichever is less, and have successfully completed probation period from promotion to the next higher grade along with their juniors who have already completed such qualifying/ eligibility service.

Note : 5. The eligibility list for promotion shall be prepared with reference to the date of completion of the prescribed qualifying service by the officers in the respective grade or post.

Schedule – III

[See rule 6]

(i) Composition of Departmental Promotion Committee for considering cases for promotion and confirmation in the Indian Corporate Law Service.

(ii) Composition of Selection Committee for considering cases for grant of Non Functional Selection Grade in the Indian Corporate Law Service.

(iii) Composition of Screening Committee for considering cases for grant of Non Functional Upgradation to officers of Indian Corporate Law Service.