While in his opinion, the AG said “that any such restriction (against officials joining politics or contesting polls) whether by way of services rules or by way of an amendment of the Election laws may not stand the test of valid classification under Article 14 of the Constitution of India”, the Legislative department of the ministry said this “would not be in harmony of the provisions of the Constitution”.
Based on these legal advices, the DoPT which is the nodal authority for regulating services rules of All-India service officials, told the EC recently that its suggestions in this regard “may not be appropriate and feasible”.
