Compassionate appointment is intended to enable the family of the deceased employee to tide over the sudden crisis resulting from the death of the bread earner. The general rule for appointment should not be departed from, except where compelling circumstances demand, such as the death of the sole bread earner and the likelihood of the family suffering because of the setback.

JUDGMENT :

(Tashi Rabstan, J.) :

1. A Judgment dated 17.09.2010, came to be passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Chandigarh Bench in TA 109/JK/2010 (SWP No.2784/2002) thereby dismissing the petition filed by the petitioner for seeking appointment on compassionate ground, is impugned in the present writ petition.

2. The petitioner assails the impugned judgment dated 17.09.2010, inter alia, on the following grounds:

1. That the respondents had not assessed the merit of petitioner correctly.

2. That a bare perusal of the compassionate appointment scheme would show that no provision has been made for allotting some marks on account of permanent disablement of the members of the deceased family. In these circumstances it cannot be said that the criteria for assessing the merit of the candidate was exhaustive.

3. That the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that whenever the claim of the petitioner regarding compassionate appointment is delayed the claimant cannot be allowed to suffer and his case cannot be rejected on the ground of delay or latches which is not attributable to the claimant. This aspect of the case has not been considered by the Tribunal, as such the order passed by it is liable to be quashed.

4. That the respondents have erred factually while rejecting the case of the petitioner wherein they have stated as under:

“Government servants daughter(s) is/are married off. The family does not have the liabilities of marriageable daughters and minor school going children etc.”

The correct position is that the petitioner has a sister who was of 10 years old at the time of death of her father and is polio affected. She is still unmarried. At the time of death of their father two of the petitioner’s younger brothers were minor and school going. They had to give up their education due to poverty. This aspect of the matter has not been considered properly by the respondents.

5. That the respondents were under a legal obligation to consider the claim of the petitioner immediately after the death of his father or in any case immediately after the submission of the application by the petitioner. The respondents themselves have delayed the consideration for 8 years and they cannot be allowed to plead erroneously that the emergency for appointment on compassionate grounds for mitigating the basic expenses is not there.

6. That the judgment has been passed by the learned Tribunal in a mechanical manner.

3. Shorn of subsidiary details, the actual manifestation of the controversy involved in the writ petition is that the father of the petitioner was working as a Storekeeper Gr.1 in the office of the Garrison Engineer. He was invalidated out of the Army on medical grounds on 1st of April 1994 by a Medical Board held at the SMGS Hospital Jammu and came to be placed on pension. On 28.06.1994, the petitioner’s father was directed to report to the office of the Garrison Engineer for completion of pension papers.

4. Being incapacitated and bed-ridden, father of the petitioner sent his brother to collect the complete documents for signature and after signature its return thereof. The father of the petitioner Sh. Roop Chand departed to heavenly abode on 20.08.1994, and is survived by his wife and five siblings, including a handicapped son and a 10 years polio affected daughter. Since the elder brother of the petitioner was handicapped, so the petitioner, being under matriculate of course major, at that point of time studying in ninth class, had come forward to submit his application for compassionate appointment as Mazdoor on 17.09.1994. Same was, however, acknowledged by the respondents on 20.01.1995 when the petitioner was advised to attend the office on any working day for filling up the forms for intimation to higher authorities. The petitioner thereafter filled up the necessary information and signed requisite documents. The documents were submitted to the Commander Works Engineer at Pathankot vide communication no.306613