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2000 Supreme(Kar) 304
Karnataka High Court
N.SARASWATHI - Appellant
Versus
SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, REVENUE DEPARTMENT, BANGALORE - Respondent
Decided On : 05-24-00
W.P. : 4335 of 2000
K.S.Narayanaswamy, M.B.PRABHAKAR
The widow of a deceased government servant is entitled to appointment on compassionate grounds as per the rules, without the need for additional documentation.
Headnote:
Compassionate Grounds - Appointment of Widow - The court held that the widow of a deceased government servant is entitled to appointment on compassionate grounds, and there is no need to produce a no objection certificate from the guardian of the son through the first wife of the deceased employee.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a widow of a deceased employee, sought a direction for appointment on compassionate grounds. The respondents required her to produce a court order and a no objection certificate from the guardian of the son through the first wife of the deceased employee.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner, being the widow of the deceased employee, is entitled to appointment on compassionate grounds as per the rules, and there is no need for additional documentation.
Issues: The issue was whether the petitioner, as the widow of the deceased employee, is eligible for appointment on compassionate grounds without producing a no objection certificate from the guardian of the son through the first wife of the deceased employee.
Ratio Decidendi: The court interpreted Rule 3 of the Karnataka Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 1996, and held that the widow of a deceased government servant gets priority for appointment on compassionate grounds, and there is no requirement for additional documentation in this case.
Final Decision: The writ petition was allowed, and the respondents were directed to consider the petitioner's case for appointment on compassionate grounds as per the rules, without the need for additional documentation.
( 1 ) THE petitioner in this writ petition has sought for a direction to the respondents to consider the application filed by her for appointment on compassionate ground.
( 2 ) THE facts in this case are that the petitioner being the widow of the deceased employee made an application for appointment on compassionate ground. On that application the respondents issued an endorsement calling upon the petitioner to produce the order passed by the Civil court in a pending dispute between the petitioner and the son of the first wife of the deceased employee and also to furnish no objection certificate by the guardian of the son through the first wife. This endorsement has made the petitioner to come to this Court on the ground that her case is to be considered for appointment as she is the widow of the deceased as per the rules. Rule 3 of the Karnataka Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 1996 reads as follows.
( 3 ) ELIGIBILITY for appointment. (1) Appointment on compassionate grounds under these rules shall not be claimed as a matter of right and shall not be given as a matter of course. (2) Appointment under these rules shall be restricted to the dependent of a deceased Government servant in the following order of preference namely. (a) widow; (b) a son, if widow is not eligible or for any valid reason is not willing to accept the appointment; (c) an unmarried daughter, if the widow and the son are not eligible or for any valid reason they are not willing to accept the appointment. (3) An adopted son or daughter of a deceased Government servant shall not be eligible for appointment under these rules".
( 4 ) FROM the reading of the above rule, it is clear that if an employee dies leaving behind a widow, the widow gets priority for appointment. In the instant case, the deceased employee married the petitioner after the death of the first wife. If that is so, the marriage of the petitioner with the deceased employee is valid. Hence the petitioner being a widow is entitled to get her application considered for appointment under the above said rules. Therefore, there is no need to call upon the petitioner to produce the no objection certificate from the guardian of the son through the first wife of late Basavaraj.
( 5 ) IN the result, I pass the following order. (i) Writ petition is allowed. (ii) Direction is issued to the respondents to consider the case of the petitioner for appointment on compassionate ground as per the rules referred to above and in the light of the observation made above, as expeditiously as possible.
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