Compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule and must be made in accordance with the state's policy and eligibility criteria, considering the financial condition of the deceased employee's family.

JUDGMENT

(Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records in proceedings dated: 5/2014 in Na.Ka.6848/A1/2008 on the file of the 1st respondent and to quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to grant appointment on compassionate ground.)

1. The order of rejection rejecting the claim of the petitioner for compassionate appointment in proceedings dated May, 2014 is under challenge in the present writ petition.

2. The father of the writ petitioner, Mr.G.Nandagopal, served as an Office Assistant in the Government High School, Bukkadurai, Kancheepuram District. The father of the petitioner died on 14.09.2003 while he was in service. During the relevant point of time, the petitioner was a minor and the mother of the writ petitioner submitted an application on 22.05.2006 to provide appointment to the writ petitioner. In view of the fact that the petitioner was a minor during the relevant point of time, he was not eligible for appointment and thus, the application was not considered. On attaining the age of majority, the petitioner submitted an application on 05.05.2008 and the said application was rejected in May, 2014.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner made a submission that the first application submitted by the mother of the petitioner was within a period of 3 years from the date of death of the deceased employee. The said application was submitted to provide employment to the petitioner and therefore, on attaining the age of majority, the case of the petitioner ought to have been considered by the competent authorities.

4. The learned Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the respondents opposed the said contention by stating that the application submitted by the mother of the petitioner cannot be considered, in view of the fact that it was submitted to provide appointment to a minor son and as per Government scheme, appointment cannot be provided. After attaining the age of majority, the petitioner submitted an application and by the time, 3 years period contemplated under the scheme expired. Thus, the writ petition is liable to be rejected.

5. The scheme of compassionate appointment was introduced to mitigate the circumstances arising on account of sudden demise of the Government Employee. Compassionate appointment is not a regular appointment, nor an appointment under the constitutional scheme. It is a concession granted to the Government employees on certain exceptional circumstances. Thus, the compassionate appointment can never be claimed as a matter of right and only if a person is entitled under the terms and conditions, then alone the scheme can be extended, but not otherwise. Equal opportunity in public employment is a constitutional mandate. All appointments are to be made in accordance with the rules and by providing equal opportunity to participate in the process of selection.

6. As far as the compassionate appointments are concerned, no selection is conducted, no suitability or eligibility is tested, but persons are appointed merely based on death of an employee. Therefore, compassionate appointment is to be restricted in the interest of the efficient public administration. No doubt, the Government has also restricted the compassionate appointments and it is to be extended only to the deserving family and more so, after a lapse of many years. Providing compassionate appointment after a lapse of many years would not only defeat the purpose and object of the scheme, but also the penurious circumstances arose on account of the sudden death became vanished. Thus, the lapse of time is also a ground to reject the claim for compassionate appointment. Number of judgments are delivered by this Court and the Government has also issued revised instructions for providing compassionate appointment in G.O.(Ms) No.18, Labour and Employment (Q1) Department, dated 23.01.2020.

7. Even recently, the Hon'ble Supreme