Patna High Court: Ashutosh Kumar, J. dismissed the petition saying that there was no merit in the petition and the case could not be considered afresh.
The petitioner filed a petition to for directions to be made to the respondent authorities to appoint him as a Class-IV employee on compassionate grounds , as his father had died working as a
Chowkidar, in the year 1995. After the death of the petitioner’s father, an application was filed for compassionate appointment by his elder brother, which was allowed but later, the petitioner’s brother did not pursue the matter any further. An application was then filed after seven long years by the petitioner’s brother that in his place, his younger brother i.e., the petitioner be considered for appointment.
The counsel for the State contended that considering the condition of the family, help was offered to them in the form of compassionate appointment to one of the dependents of the deceased employee, and the department had recommended the appointment of the elder son of the deceased employee. It was the duty of the elder son to have reported to the authorities he was not capable of discharging the aforesaid responsibility. The act of approaching the authorities in the year 2010 and this Court of law in the year 2019 denotes that the family was not in need of any help in the form of compassionate appointment.
The Court held that grant of compassionate appointment is not a mode of appointment but only a concession to the family of the deceased employee in order to bail it out from the financial distress. Such compassionate appointment was given in terms of the scheme framed in the department for grant of such employment and the department cannot sway from the rules as it was not a regular case of appointment. The dominant purpose behind the grant of such appointment is to alleviate the immediate difficulty of the family of the employee who died in harness, leaving the family on the brink of starvation/destitution.
Since the death took place in the year 1995 and the matter was not pursued despite a recommendation for the petitioner’s brother by the department for being considered, the case of the petitioner cannot now be considered afresh.
In view of the above-noted facts, the instant petition was dismissed. [Ajay Kumar Yadav v. State of Bihar, 2019 SCC OnLine Pat 1434, decided on 19-08-2019]
