Point of Law: Death of employee - Liability of legal heirs for appointment under SRO-43 - Petitioner has failed to satisfy this Court as to how inspite of a father who was earning, petitioner could claim to be dependent on deceased - Hence respondent No. 9- wife have first preference in seeking employment in presence case under SRO-43.

JUDGMENT :

The matter was heard and dismissed in the open Court on 23.02.2021 with the observations that the reasons would follow. The following is the basis for the order of dismissal.

1. The petitioner is the brother of the deceased-Deepak Sharma, who died in harness while he was serving as a Constable in the police service whereas, private respondent No. 9 is the wife of the deceased.

2. It appears that both the petitioner and private respondent No. 9 have applied for a Dependent Certificate with a view to make themselves eligible for appointment under SRO-43.

3. In the present case, the petitioner seeks to block the consideration of private respondent No. 9 on the ground that the deceased Deepak Sharma had fallen apart from the said respondent on account of her infidelity and, therefore, was forced to commit suicide on that account.

4. It is stated that since the private respondent No. 9 was herself responsible for the death of the brother of the petitioner and thus was not entitled to claim any benefit by exploiting her status as the wife of the deceased.

5. It is further stated that the said private respondent No. 9 was also contemplating a second marriage and even on that count, she was not entitled to be considered at all. Both the petitioner as well as private respondent No. 9 appear to have applied for the issuance of a Dependent Certificate in the office of Assistant Commissioner, Jammu, which forms the basis of consideration for appointment under SRO-43.

6. One of the directions sought to be issued by this Court is that no Dependent Certificate should be issued in favour of the private respondent No. 9 and simultaneously that the process for issuance of the said Dependent Certificate be expedited in favour of the petitioner. A further direction is sought for purposes of expediting the inquest proceedings and for registering an appropriate case against the said private respondent No. 9 for abetting the suicide of the brother of the petitioner.

7. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

8. ‘Family’ as defined under Section 2(d) of the SRO-43 envisages thus:-

“Family member means spouse, son, daughter, adopted son, adopted daughter, sister or brother dependent on the deceased.”

9. Section 3 of the SRO-43 further envisages that an eligible family member of a person specified in Rule 2 may be appointed against a vacancy in the lowest rank of non-gazetted service or class-4th having qualification as prescribed under the relevant recruitment rules.

10. The main thrust of the argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner was that since the definition of a ‘family member’ does not envisage any preference to be given to the wife of the deceased employee, therefore, the wife on that account cannot be considered to the exclusion of any of the other members mentioned in clause 2(d) of the said SRO.

11. Admittedly respondent No. 9 (Sakshi Sharma) was the legally wedded wife of the deceased and is now under an obligation to bring up her two children, a male child aged about five years and a female child aged about three and a half years. The custody of both the children admittedly is with the respondent No. 9.

It is also an admitted fact that the brunt of the death of a person is borne first by the spouse and children especially who are dependent upon the deceased, more so when the spouse is a lady and is a home maker and without any ostensible source of income. The degree of difficulty which can be faced by such a widow with two small children as in this case can be incomprehensibly large and if timely support is not provided, it can invariably lead to destitution and vagrancy of the family.

It is precisely for that reason that various states and autonomous bodies have framed rules for compassionate appointment to prevent a situation where the family of the deceased is left to fend for themselves and, therefore, preventing them from getting into a state of penury and starvation.

12. It is pertinent to mention that in most of the cases the