'Compassionate Appointment Is A Tailored Exception; Not Meant For Delayed Claims': Patna HC Dismisses Appeal After 25-Year Gap

The Patna High Court has reiterated that compassionate appointment is meant to provide immediate financial relief and cannot be claimed after a prolonged lapse of time, dismissing an intra-court appeal filed nearly 25 years after the employee went missing.A Division Bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Shailendra Singh was hearing a Letters Patent Appeal challenging the judgment dated 02.09.2024 passed by a learned Single Judge in C.W.J.C. No. 6835 of 2017. The case arose from the appellant's claim for compassionate appointment following the disappearance of his father, who was serving in a Class-IV post and was allegedly kidnapped in 1999. An FIR was lodged and, after investigation, a charge-sheet was filed. The appellant's mother had applied for compassionate appointment, which was initially recommended but later rejected by the District Compassionate Appointment Committee. Subsequent challenges before the High Court also failed, culminating in the present appeal. The appellant contended that since his father had remained untraceable for more than seven years, a presumption of death arose in law, and a death certificate had also been issued. It was argued that the claim for compassionate appointment ought to have been considered on this basis. The State opposed the plea, submitting that compassionate appointment is not a vested right and is intended only to provide immediate relief. It was further contended that the claim, raised after a long lapse of time, defeats the very object of the scheme. The Court framed the issue as whether a claim for compassionate appointment could be sustained after such a prolonged delay. Answering in the negative, the Court held that compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule of public employment and is strictly governed by the principle of immediacy.The Court observed:“Upon perusal of the materials available on record, it is apparent that the appellant's father became traceless in the year 1999 and a considerable period of time has since elapsed. Such an inordinate lapse of time assumes decisive significance in the context of compassionate appointment, which is conceived not as a mode of public employment, but as a tailored exception intended to meet an immediate and emergent financial exigency arising on account of the loss of the bread earner. In this backdrop, it is pertinent to take note of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Debabrata Tiwari (supra), wherein it has been authoritatively held that where there is a prolonged delay, whether attributable to the applicant or the authorities, the foundational element of immediacy stands significantly diminished and loses its force…”The Court further noted that the appellant's father had gone missing in 1999 and that a considerable period had elapsed since then, during which the family had managed to sustain itself.Holding that the element of urgency and financial crisis no longer subsisted, the Court concluded that entertaining such a claim at this belated stage would defeat the very purpose of the scheme.Accordingly, finding no illegality or perversity in the order of the Single Judge, the Court dismissed the appeal.Case Title: Dhananjay Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar and Ors.Case No.: Letters Patent Appeal No. 1179 of 2024 (in C.W.J.C. No. 6835 of 2017).Appearance: Mr. Bimal Kumar appeared for the Appellant. Mr. Saroj Kumar Sharma appeared for the Respondents.Click Here To Read/Download Order

'Compassionate Appointment Is A Tailored Exception; Not Meant For Delayed Claims': Patna HC Dismisses Appeal After 25-Year Gap

Rushil Batra

Tags