Compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule and must adhere to the prevailing norms and eligibility criteria as per the policy.

JUDGMENT

Kuldeep Mathur, J. - Smt. Gawari Devi while working as a Class-IV employee in the respondent-department, passed away on 07.02.2013. The petitioner, widowed daughter in law of the deceased employee filed an application seeking compassionate appointment in the year 2013 as per the provisions of Rajasthan Compassionate Appointment to the Dependents of Deceased Government Servant Rules, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as 'Rules of 1996'). The respondent-department rejected the application vide orders dated 20.03.2013 and 21.03.2014 on the count that 'widowed daughter in law' does not fall within the definition of 'Dependent' provided under the Rules of 1996.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that rejection of the application seeking compassionate appointment deserves to be declared bad in the eyes of law as 'widowed daughter in law' should be considered as 'dependent' of a Government servant as defined under Rule-2(c) of the Rules of 1996. Reliance was placed on the judgment rendered by this Court in the case of Smt. Pinki v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. (S.B.C.W. No. 9177/2010). Counsel further relied on judgments rendered by Chhattisgarh High Court and Allahabad High Court in the cases of Smt. Duliya Bai Yadav v. State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. (Writ Petition (S) No. 5051 of 2014) and U.P. Power Corporation Ltd. v. Smt. Urmila Devi (S.A.W. No. 1026 of 2003) respectively.

3. Rule-2(c) of the Rules of 1996 is reproduced herein below for the sake of ready reference:-

"2.(c) "Dependent" means a spouse, son, unmarried or widowed daughter, [adopted son/adopted unmarried daughter] legally adopted by the deceased Government servant during his/her life-time and who were wholly dependent on the deceased Government servant at the time of his/her death."

4. In State of Gujarat & Ors. v. Arvind Kumar T. Tiwari & Anr., reported in (2012) 9 SCC 545, Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that compassionate appointment should be made strictly in accordance with the rules, regulations or administrative instructions governing the subject, taking into consideration the financial condition of the family of the deceased. It was further observed that such employment is an exception to the constitutional provisions contained in Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The object of compassionate appointment is only to enable the family of the deceased to overcome sudden financial crisis and not to confer any status upon it.

5. The Hon'ble Supreme Court summarised the principles governing the grant of appointment on compassionate grounds in the case of Director of Treasuries in Karnataka and Anr. v. V. Somyashree reported in (2021) 12 SCC 20 as under:

"(i) that the compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule;

(ii) that no aspirant has a right to compassionate appointment;

(iii) the appointment to any public post in the service of the State has to be made on the basis of the principle in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India;

(iv) appointment on compassionate ground can be made only on fulfilling the norms laid down by the State's policy and/or satisfaction of the eligibility criteria as per the policy;

(v) the norms prevailing on the date of the consideration of the application should be the basis for consideration of claim for compassionate appointment."

6. In the considered opinion of this Court, in the absence of any statutory provisions, a 'widowed daughter in law' cannot be considered for compassionate appointment. Thus, the respondent-department had rightly rejected the petitioner's application for compassionate appointment in consonance with the definition of "dependent" provided under the rules of 1996.

7. In the case of Ganpat Parihar v. Food Corporation of India and Ors.: D.B. S.A.W. 573/2022, Division Bench of this Court observed that:

"We are in agreement with the reasons assigned by Single Bench for dismissing the writ petition. The applications for compassionate appointment filed by the appella