Officers, Servants, and Expenses of High Courts
Official heading: “Officers and servants and the expenses of High Courts.”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part VI, Article 229, printed page 107
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
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1. In One Sentence
Article 229 vests the appointment and service regulation of High Court officers and staff in the Chief Justice, and charges all administrative expenses upon the Consolidated Fund of the State.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 229 secures the institutional and administrative autonomy of the High Court from executive interference by vesting total control over court personnel in the Chief Justice.
Appointment of Staff (Clause 1): Appointments of officers and servants of a High Court are made by the Chief Justice of the Court or such other Judge or officer as the Chief Justice may direct, subject to State Public Service Commission consultation rules for outside recruitment if required by the Governor.
Service Rules (Clause 2): The Chief Justice is empowered to make rules governing the conditions of service of High Court staff, subject to State legislative enactments and gubernatorial approval for rules relating to salaries, allowances, leave, or pensions.
Charged Expenditure (Clause 3): The administrative expenses of the High Court, including all salaries, allowances, and pensions payable to court officers and staff, are charged upon the Consolidated Fund of the State, protecting court funding from legislative cut motions.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A State Government department seeks to dictate staffing levels or unilaterally reduce allowances for High Court registry staff.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 229 ensures that the High Court maintains institutional control over its administrative apparatus.
- Chief Justice controls appointments and service conditions of court personnel.
- Insulates court administration from executive interference.
- All administrative expenses charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State.
- Gubernatorial financial concurrence required for salary-affecting staff rules.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 229, printed page 107 • 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.