Article 187

Secretariat of State Legislature

Official heading: “Secretariat of State Legislature.”

Check this article against the official editionAwaiting human legal review

Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part VI, Article 187, printed pages 83–84
Last human source-link check: Not yet checked
Last human legal review: Not yet reviewed

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1. In One Sentence

Article 187 guarantees separate secretarial staff for each House of the State Legislature, empowering the Legislature to regulate recruitment and service conditions by law.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

Article 187 protects the institutional independence of the legislative branch from executive domination by mandating separate, autonomous secretariats for each House of the State Legislature.

Clause (1) provides that each House shall have a separate secretarial staff, though common posts across both Houses in a bicameral legislature are permitted.

Clause (2) authorizes the State Legislature to regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of legislative secretarial staff by law.

Until such legislation is enacted, Clause (3) empowers the Governor, after consultation with the Speaker or Chairman, to make rules regulating recruitment and service conditions.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

A State Government executive department attempts to take over the recruitment and transfer of Assembly legislative clerks.

Core takeaway: Under Article 187, the legislative secretariat is an autonomous constitutional establishment independent of the general civil service.

Illustrative Notice: Secretariat rules must be made in consultation with the Speaker or Chairman, ensuring legislative leadership.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 187 safeguards legislative institutional autonomy.

Independent legislative secretariats distinct from executive civil service.
State Legislature holds primary power to enact service statutes.
Gubernatorial rule-making requires mandatory consultation with presiding officers.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

(1) The House or each House of the Legislature of a State shall have a separate secretarial staff: Provided that nothing in this clause shall, in the case of the Legislature of a State having a Legislative Council, be construed as preventing the creation of posts common to both Houses of such Legislature. (2) The Legislature of a State may by law regulate the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to the secretarial staff of the House or Houses of the Legislature of the State. (3) Until provision is made by the Legislature of the State under clause (2), the Governor may, after consultation with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly or the Chairman of the Legislative Council, as the case may be, make rules regulating the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to the secretarial staff of the Assembly or the Council, and any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any law made under the said clause.

Transcription for reference; compare with the linked official editionNot yet verified by a human legal reviewer

6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata

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Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 187, printed pages 83–84 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource