Matrimonial Dispute Resulting In Acquittal Can't Be Sole Ground To Deny Compassionate Appointment As Constable: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, while directing the appointment of a candidate to the post of Constable, held that the grant of a compassionate appointment cannot be denied solely because the candidate was tried and acquitted after settlement was reached between parties in a cruelty case. The bench of Justice Anand Singh Bahrawat noted that the alleged offence occurred between 2015-2021 and the petitioner was acquitted in 2025 after the candidate's brother and his sister-in-law reached a settlement. The bench observed:"it appears that due to matrimonial dispute between husband and wife who are brother and sister-in-law (Bhabhi) of petitioner, petitioner was falsely roped in the aforesaid criminal cases being family member and without there being any fault on the part of petitioner, he faced the criminal trial of said cases, however, respondents rejected the claim of petitioner on account of pendency of said criminal cases and even after being acquitted in them, respondents did not grant compassionate appointment to petitioner.it appears that there was a matrimonial dispute which ended in settlement and the original complainant did not support the case of prosecution and was declared hostile in view of settlement out of the court and the other prosecution witness(s) examined in the case did not corroborate the prosecution story. Therefore, for whatever has happened from 2015 to 2021 and the criminal cases for the offence under Section 498A IPC resulted in acquittal on 24.04.2025, petitioner should not have been denied the appointment in the year 2025...Under these circumstances and in the peculiar facts of the case, the petitioner could not have been denied the appointment solely on the aforesaid ground that he was tried for the offence under Section 498A of IPC and that too, for the offence alleged to have happened in the year 2015 to 2021 in which he was even acquitted in the year 2025 may be on settlement (between husband and wife)". The petitioner, son of an Assistant Sub Inspector, approached the court seeking to quash the orders of the respondents wherein his claim for compassionate appointment was rejected. The petitioner claimed that he had submitted an attestation form, along with duly disclosing the two criminal cases pending against him. However, after all formalities, his claim was rejected because criminal cases were pending against him. The senior counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the Magistrate had acquitted the petitioner, and he requested the authorities to reconsider his case. Meanwhile, he was also acquitted in the second criminal case. The senior counsel argued that the petitioner was falsely roped into the criminal cases ongoing against his brother, instituted by his sister-in-law. The government advocate appearing for the State argued that the charges against the petitioner were serious in nature and mere acquittal does not automatically create the right to appointment in disciplined services. The Scrutiny committee, after considering the allegations, found the petitioner unsuitable. The court relied on the Supreme Court case of Pramod Singh Kirar v State of Madhya Pradesh, wherein the Supreme Court held that a candidate cannot be denied appointment only because he was tried for an offence under Section 498A IPC. Considering the case, the court noted that the petitioner was acquitted by the Trial Court and that the matrimonial dispute ended in settlement. Further, the court noted that the trial occurred from 2015 to 2021 and resulted in an acquittal on April 24, 2025. Thus, the bench held that the petitioner should not have been denied appointment in 2025. Accordingly, the bench allowed the petition and directed the respondents to grant compassionate appointment to the post of constable. Case Title: Raghvendra Tomar v State of Madhya Pradesh, WP. No. 41182 of 2025For Petitioner: Senior Advocate Jitendra Kumar Sharma with Advocate Krati SachdevFor State: Government Advocate K.K. Prajapati Click here to read/download the Order

Matrimonial Dispute Resulting In Acquittal Can't Be Sole Ground To Deny Compassionate Appointment As Constable: Madhya Pradesh High Court

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Matrimonial Dispute Resulting In Acquittal Can't Be Sole Ground To Deny Compassionate Appointment As Constable: Madhya Pradesh High Court

Jayanti Pahwa

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