Judgment

SIKRI, J :

This is a petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution for enforcing the fundamental rights of the petitioner under Arts. 14, 16 and 19 of the Constitution. Although the petition raises various points, before us only two points have been argued by Mr. Garg, on behalf of the petitioner. We are grateful to Mr. Garg, who has argued as amicus curiae, for the assistance he has given. The two points may be formulated as follows :

(1) That the Mysore General Services (Revenue Subordinate Branch) Recruitment Rules, 1959, were not made with the previous approval of the Central Government under Section 115 (7) of the States Re-organisation Act, and, therefore do not govern the petitioner is so far as the conditions of service have been varied to his disadvantage;

(2) That the Madras Government had prior to November 1, 1956, by various orders, reduced the petitioner in rank in violation of Art, 311 (2) of the Constitution and Art. 16.

2. In order to appreciate the arguments addressed to us, it is necessary to give a few facts. The petitioner was selected by the Madras Public Service Commission as Lower Division Clerk under the Madras Ministerial Service Rules in 1949, and was all