“Courts cannot expand scope of appointments made on compassionate ground”
Staff Reporter
MADURAI: Appointment in Government service on compassionate ground is an exception to Articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (equality of opportunity in matters of public employment) of the Constitution.
Hence courts cannot expand the scope of such appointments, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled.
Justice K. Chandru passed the ruling while dismissing a writ petition filed by a 21-year-old girl of Thanjavur seeking compassionate employment as her father, a Government servant, died in service in 2001.
The Tiruvaiyaru tahsildar had rejected her request on the ground that the application should have been made within three years of the death as per Government Rules.
“The very idea of compassionate appointment is that the family members of a Government servant dying in service should not be driven to the streets. Therefore, when an opportunity is given by the Government, but an application is made long after the demise of the Government servant, it has to be presumed that such a dire need does not exist,” the Judge said.
On the contention of the petitioner’s counsel that a representation made by her mother to the Chief Minister on August 10, 2003, could be construed as an application, Mr. Justice Chandru said: “When the Government had framed the Rule including prescription of time limit, the court, out of sympathy, cannot expand the scope of the Rule.”
The Judge cited a Supreme Court ruling in State of Haryana versus Ankur Gupta (2003) wherein it was held that compassionate appointment could not be claimed as a matter of right.
It further said that such appointments should be made in accordance with the rules, regulations or administrative instructions and after considering the financial condition of the family of the deceased.
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