IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that sisters are not considered dependents for compassionate appointments under the specific rules governing non-teaching staff, affirming the need for adherence to statutory definitions.

JUDGMENT :

Harish Tandon , J.

The instant appeal is at the behest of the sister of the deceased Group-D employee of a High Secondary School who died while in service.

2. The facts as unfold would reveal that the sister of the appellant was a Group-D staff of Anjuman Girls High School (H.S) and unfortunately died on 14.12.2012. It is pleaded that she was the sole bread earner of the family and left behind her surviving two sisters, a brother and mother. The appellant being the married sister claimed appointment on compassionate ground as the brother and the other sister are also married and live elsewhere. The authority rejected the application as the appellant did not have minimum educational qualification required for appointment to Group-D post and, therefore, cannot be considered for compassionate appointment. It would further reveal that subsequently the appellant passed class-VIII examination and further claimed for appointment but the Single Bench rejected the said application on the ground that since the appellant did not have the requisite educational qualification as on the date of the death of the employee i.e., her sister and also does not come as the heirs within the Hanafi Law, therefore, her claim is not tenable.

3. The counsel for the appellant vociferously submits that the Notification dated 2nd April, 2008 issued by the Labour Department, Government of West Bengal provides for an appointment on compassionate ground in the event of the death of the Government employee and includes within itself, the dependent which has been interpreted by the Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court in LPA No. 617 of 2017 with LPA 457 of 2017 decided on 16.09.2019 where the sister is included within the definition of dependent/family.

4. It is further submitted that there is no intelligible differentia in creating a classification within a class and the sister, being dependent upon the said Government employee, cannot be kept outside the purview of the Scheme framed for compassionate appointment.

5. The counsel for the State took a plea that the sister being not included in the definition of a dependent/family under the relevant Rules, the claim of the appellant is unsustainable. It is further submitted that the Notification dated 2nd April, 2008 relied upon by the counsel for the appellant is inapplicable in the instant case as those Notifications are restricted to a Government employee and not an employee of the School under the education department.

6. The counsel for the State submits that specific Rules have been framed for appointment of a non-teaching staff in the Schools which imbibes within itself the provision relating to compassionate appointment and, therefore, this Court should not proceed on the basis of the notification dated 2nd April, 2008. It is submitted that the Government framed West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection of Persons for appointment to the post of Non-Teaching Staff) Rules, 2009 which governs the field not only for the recruitment, appointment and the procedure to be adopted but also the mode and the modalities of appointing the person on compassionate ground.

7. It is thus submitted that the definition given in the Schedule appended to the said Rule neither includes brother nor sister of the deceased non-teaching staff and, therefore, the Judgment of the Jharkhand High Court is not applicable rather distinguishable on facts. On the conspectus of the aforesaid stand taken by the respective counsels and the facts emanating from the record, we hasten to add that the Notification dated 2nd April, 2008 as relied upon by the counsel for the appellant is inapplicable to an employee being a non- teaching staff in a School for the simple reason that the moment specific statutory provision is provided for a particular class of an employee taking out from the general provisions applicable to the Government employees, the specific Rules would apply. The Rules of 2009 was promulgated expressly for the pu