Compassionate Appointment : Supreme Court Summarises Principles

The Supreme Court, recently, held that since compassionate appointment is not a vested right. A claim for compassionate appointment by the dependent of the deceased employee may not be entertained after a lapse of a considerable period since the death. The Court opined - “...the operation of a policy/scheme for compassionate appointment is founded on considerations of immediacy. A sense of immediacy is called for not only in the manner in which the applications are processed by the concerned authorities but also in the conduct of the applicant in pursuing his case, before the authorities and if needed before the Courts.”A Bench comprising Justice Krishna Murari and Justice BV Nagarathna reversed an order passed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court granting compassionate appointment to the deceased employees of the local authorities. It restored the order of the Single Judge rejecting the claims on two ground grounds -no policy existing to govern compassionate appointment to posts under local authorities in the State of West Bengal - existence of a State policy is sine qua non for making compassionate appointments ;applications for compassionate appointment, which were made in the year 2006 cannot be considered and decided in 2023, moreso when the applicants were not diligently pursuing their claims . Factual Background In 2006, applications were made by the heirs of the deceased employees of Burdwan Municipality in West Bengal. The Municipality directed an enquiry by a three-member committee comprising the Chairperson, the Executive Officer and the Deputy Director of Local Bodies, Burdwan Division to determine if the applicants were entitled for compassionate appointment. Subsequently, in 2013, the Chairperson forwarded a memo for approval of appointment on compassionate grounds. The proposed list of eligible candidates was forwarded to the Director of Local Bodies. However, no further action was taken by the Director of Local Bodies. Consequently, in 2015, a petition was filed before the Calcutta High Court by one of the eligible candidates, seeking appointment on compassionate grounds. The High Court asked the local bodies to take a decision within a period of ten weeks and communicate the decision to the Chairperson within a week thereafter. The Director of Local Bodies passed an order stating that they had no authority to consider the appointments under compassionate grounds in Urban Local Bodies. Assailing the said order, a writ petition was filed before the High Court. The High Court heard and disposed of a batch of petitions pertaining to the same issue. The Single Judge noted that in absence of a sanctioned scheme for compassionate appointment in the Municipality. The order of the Single Judge was challenged before a Division Bench that allowed the petition. Identifying the scheme under which the appointments can be considered, the Division Bench directed the concerned authorities to consider the applications for compassionate appointments. Analysis by the Supreme Court Citing a catena of judgments on compassionate appointments, which has its origin in Article 39 of the Directive Principles of State Policy, the Court summarised the well-settled principles as under - That a provision for compassionate appointment makes a departure from the general provisions providing for appointment to a post by following a particular procedure of recruitment. Since such a provision enables appointment being made without following the said procedure, it is in the nature of an exception to the general provisions and must be resorted to only in order to achieve the stated objectives, i.e., to enable the family of the deceased to get over the sudden financial crisis.Appointment on compassionate grounds is not a source of recruitment. The reason for making such a benevolent scheme by the State or the public sector undertaking is to see that the dependents of the deceased are not deprived of the means of livelihood. It only enables the family of the deceased to get over the sudden financial crisis.Compassionate appointment is not a vested right which can be exercised at any time in future. Compassionate employment cannot be claimed or offered after a lapse of time and after the crisis is over.That compassionate appointment should be provided immediately to redeem the family in distress. It is improper to keep such a case pending for years.In determining as to whether the family is in financial crisis, all relevant aspects must be borne in mind including the income of the family, its liabilities, the terminal benefits if any, received by the family, the age, dependency and marital status of its members, together with the income from any other source.The Court noted that the sine qua non for allowing a claim of compassionate appointment is that the family of the deceased employee would be unable to make ends meet if one of their dependents is not employed on the compassionate ground. It observed - “The...

Compassionate Appointment : Supreme Court Summarises Principles

Sohini Chowdhury

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