Marriage Not A Ground To Deny Compassionate Appointment To Employee’s Daughter: Madras HC [Read Judgment]

The Madurai bench of Madras High Court, in Joint Registrar/ Managing Director, Virudhunagar District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd vs P Asothai, has held that denying employment to the daughter of the deceased on the ground of marriage is violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution.

A bench comprising Justice R Subbian and Justice J Nisha Banu was considering a writ petition wherein the daughter of the deceased was denied compassionate appointment on the ground that she was married at the time of the death of her father.

The court, after extensively considering the history of the role played by the women in Indian culture and various government orders, came to the conclusion that married daughters can also claim compassionate appointment.

However, while considering whether the family pension received by the petitioner's mother and owning a house will stand in the way of getting compassionate appointment to the petitioner, the court relied on the rationale of verdict in Balbir Kaur vs Steel Authority Of India Ltd that “in our view, this family benefit scheme cannot in any way be equated with the benefit of compassionate appointment. The sudden jerk in the family by reason of the death of the bread earner can only be absorbed by some lump sum amount being made available to the family – this is rather unfortunate, but this is a reality. The feeling of security drops to zero on the death of the bread earner and insecurity thereafter reigns and it is at that juncture if some lump sum amount is made available with a compassionate appointment, the grief-stricken family may find some solace to the mental agony and manage its affairs in the normal course of events. It is not that monetary benefit would be the replacement of the bread earners, but that would undoubtedly bring some solace to the situation” .

In view of the above, the court held that “the grant of family pension and payment of terminal benefits cannot be treated as substitute for providing employment assistance”.

Moreover, the sons of the deceased government servant are working in private companies and are leading a separate life. However, the married daughter is ready to take care of the mother as is ascertained by the affidavit given by her and her husband promising to take care of the mother. Therefore, on that assurance, compassionate appointment can be given to the daughter.

Read the Judgment here.