Application for compassionate appointment several years after death of employee not possible: Madras High Court

Application for compassionate appointment several years after death of employee not possible: Madras High Court

The petitioner withdrew her application and re-submitted it after a lapse of two years

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court has held that an application for appointment on compassionate grounds after several years from the death of the deceased employee, is not permissible.

The petitioner, PM Manjusha, stated that her father PD Mohanan, who served as a driver, died in February 1994 while he was in service. Thereafter, in June 2010, the mother of the writ petitioner was appointed in his place on compassionate grounds.

She died in September 2013. Thus, in January 2014, the petitioner applied seeking an appointment in place of her mother. However, she withdrew the application in December and re-submitted it in February 2016.

The respondent rejected the re-submitted application in November 2019. It stated that the appointment scheme on compassion was a concession and could not be claimed as a right and could not be extended.

It was observed that once an application was filed by any one of the legal heirs of the deceased employee and if the legal heir became ineligible, it was not that another legal heir could apply irrespective of the length of time.

The bench comprising Justice S M Subramaniam observed that the Rule of Reservation and the merit assessment were made. But large-scale appointments caused inefficiency in public administration, resulting in the violation of the constitutional provisions.

The court held that a compassionate appointment could not be granted after several years. The judge ruled, "A lapse of time would also provide a ground to draw a factual inference that the penurious circumstances aroused on account of the sudden death of an employee became vanished."