Compassionate appointments must adhere to established rules, and conditions ensuring minimum service length are valid and non-discriminatory under Articles 14 and 21.

JUDGMENT :

Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao, J.

The present intra Court Appeal is filed by the State aggrieved by the order in WP No. 10145 of 2012, dated 18.02.2021, in allowing the writ petition and directing the respondent authorities to consider the case of the writ petitioner for employment on the compassionate ground.

2. Initially the writ petition is filed for the following relief:

“… to issue Writ, Order or Direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the condition 3(b)(i) in G.O.Ms.No.378, GA(Ser-A), dated 24.08.1999, as illegal, void, unjust and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of Constitution of India and set aside the Memo No.JS(Per)/DS(E)/AS (V&R)-NT/PO- 1/718/2004, dated 03.03.2009. of the 4th respondent and consequently direct the respondents to provide employment to the petitioner on compassionate grounds and pass such other order or further orders as may be just and necessary.”

3. Succinctly the case of the writ petitioner is that his father while working as Plant Attendant in Boiler Maintenance Stage-I in the office of 4^th respondent i.e., Dr. N.T.T.P.S., Ibrahimpatnam Krishna District was awol on 26.08.2001. Police registered the incident as Crime No 297/2001 based on the report lodged by the petitioner’s mother on 26.08.2001 and submitted a final report on 31.12.2001 stating that the missing person is “undetectable’ and additionally the police also addressed a letter to the Superintending Engineer dated 01.10.2002. Subsequently, the petitioner submitted a request to the 4th respondent for employment on compassionate grounds after completing a seven year period since the date his father went missing, invoking Section 108 of the EVIDENCE ACT to assume that his father is deceased/was not alive. His representation was rejected vide order 03.03.2009 in circular Memo No: JS)Per)DS(E)AS(V&R)- NT/P-1/718/2004, observing that” the benefit of compassionate appointment shall not be applicable to the case of government servant who has less than 7 years to retire on the date from which the FIR is filed. The left over service of the missing person i.e., Late Sri T. Babu Rao Ex-PA/Dr.N.T.T.P.S., whose whereabouts are not known, is only 5 years 9 months and 20 days. Therefore his dependants are not entitled for employment under compassionate grounds and hence rejected”, which is impugned in the writ petition herein after called as Memo.

4. The said Memo was assailed in the writ petition on the ground that the said memo is illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and it is contrary to the scheme of compassionate appointment, so also assailed the inhibited condition 3(b)(i) imposed in G.O.Ms. No. 378 GAD (Ser-A) Dept 24.08.1999 where it prohibits to make an application for compassionate appointment where the awol person’s service is less than 7 years to retire from the date which FIR is filed.

5. The learned Single Judge has dealt with the issue in paragraph No.7 in the writ order which is reproduced hereunder:

“Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the Memo, dated 03.03.2009 issued by the 4th respondent is illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional. The said Memo was issued basing on the condition No.3(b)(i) in G.O.Ms.No.378, GA (Ser-A) Dept., dated 24.08.1999, which itself is illegal, void and contrary to the scheme of compassionate appointment. As and when the Government is providing employment under compassionate grounds to the spouse/ dependents of the deceased employee who die in harness without putting any condition of length of service left over, putting a condition in cond