IMPORTANT POINT
Compassionate appointment is a discretionary relief based on the immediate financial needs of the family, requiring a thorough assessment of all income sources and benefits received.

JUDGMENT :

J.J. Munir, J.

This writ petition is directed against an order dated 13.12.2022 issued by the Assistant General Manager (EBD), HR Department, Union Bank of India, Mumbai, communicating the rejection of the petitioner's application for compassionate appointment on account of her father's death in harness. Also under challenge is an order dated 14.11.2022 passed by the Committee for Compassionate Appointments of the Bank, by which the petitioner's claim has been rejected.

2. The brief facts giving rise to this writ petition, shorn of unnecessary detail, are these:

Ram Prasad Singh was a Clerk, employed with the Union Bank of India, posted at the Gorakhpur Branch. He died in harness on 5th of November, 2021. He was appointed in the year 1990 and at the time of his demise was aged 53 years. The petitioner's father left behind him, his widow Smt. Sangeeta Singh, Km. Archana Singh, the petitioner, his daughter and two married daughters, to wit, Aparna Singh and Sweta Singh. At the time of her father's demise, the petitioner and her mother were dependent upon him. The petitioner, at the relevant time, was a graduate, who had earned her degree from Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur and eligible for appointment on compassionate basis. She made an application to the Bank on 29th August, 2022, seeking for herself a consideration for appointment on compassionate ground. The two elder sisters of the petitioner have given their 'no objection' to a consideration of the petitioner's candidature. The petitioner belongs to the OBC Category and applied to the Bank, as already said, alongwith necessary certificates, including an income certificate issued by the competent Authority and a letter of undertaking/self-declaration, as required by the Bank's guidelines in this behalf. There are other details, which the petitioner has pleaded, but those we do not think are necessary to mention. Suffice it to say that by a communication dated 13.12.2022 issued by the Assistant General Manager (EBD), Central Officer, Mumbai, the petitioner was informed that her case was placed before the competent Authority and in terms of the Government of India guidelines, besides the scheme for compassionate appointment, her request for compassionate appointment had been considered favourably by the Bank in terms of the scheme, but rejected, as the family is not living in financial destitution, penury or without means of livelihood, justifying the appointment.

3. When this writ petition came up for admission before this Court, we noticed that the order impugned is only a communication of the Committee's decision and not the decision itself. This was not appreciated by the Court and Mr. Vivek Ratan Agrawal, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Bank, was required to place through an affidavit, within a week, a copy of the order passed by the functionary, described as the competent Authority, rejecting the petitioner's claim.

4. A counter-affidavit was filed on behalf of respondent Nos. 2 and 3, to wit, the Bank, annexing therewith a copy of the order dated 14.11.2022 passed by the Committee for Compassionate Appointment, which is in the nature of a recommendation. It is a decision accompanied by all other relevant information that the Committee considered. The Committee comprised three members, which includes the Assistant General Manager (Law), another Assistant General Manager, besides the General Manager (Human Resource). The said affidavit being filed, the petitioner was granted time to file an amendment, challenging the Committee's decision dated 14.11.2022. In the meantime, a rejoinder-affidavit was filed on 28.8.2023.

5. An application for amendment was made on 18.9.2023, which was granted by this Court on 9.10.2023. The respondent Bank was granted opportunity to file a further counter-affidavit to the amended pleas. No such affidavit was filed on behalf of the Bank. On 16.10.2023, affidavits being exchanged, the writ petition was admitted t