Article 311 of the Indian Constitution 

Article 311 of the Indian Constitution 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS – II – Constitution 

In news 

• Article 311 was recently in news.

Key takeaways 

• Article 311 says that no government employee either of an all India service or a state government shall be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to the own that appointed him/her.
• Section 2 of the article says that no civil servant shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which s/he has been informed of the charges and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges.

• As per Article 311 (2) (a), if a government employee is convicted in a criminal case, he can be dismissed without DE.
• Under 311 (2) (c), a government employee can be dismissed when the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of state it is not convenient to hold such an enquiry.

Do you know? 

• In a departmental enquiry (DE), after an enquiry officer is appointed, the civil servant is given a formal charge sheet of the charges. 
• The civil servant can represent himself/herself or choose to have a lawyer