The division judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court held that the appointment on compassionate grounds can be made only where the employer has formulated a scheme for compassionate appointment.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the husband of the appellant died in harness and then, the appellant made an application for compassionate appointment. Wherein she pleaded that she has to look after two unmarried daughters and two unmarried sons who were entirely dependent on their father and she aged about 35 years is entitled to appointment under the JSFC. However, her claim was rejected. The writ petition was filed and the writ court held that in the absence of any scheme for compassionate appointment, the Petitioners cannot claim such appointment. Then, the writ order is challenged on the ground that there was a scheme for compassionate appointment in the Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation (in short, BSFC) which shall be automatically adopted by the Jharkhand State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation (in short, JSFC).
Contentions of the Appellant
The Appellant submitted that there exists no scheme for compassionate appointment in the JSFC is not correct. It was furthermore submitted that the minutes of the meeting of the Board of the BSFC and other documents would reveal that there is a scheme for compassionate appointment and that the respondents have granted appointment to the dependents of the deceased employee.
Observations of the Court
The Hon’ble Court observed that BSFC and JSFC are two separate corporations and the argument put forward by the Appellant that the scheme of the BSFC shall be automatically adopted by the JSFC cannot be accepted.
The court furthermore observed that it is well-settled law that the appointment on compassionate grounds can be made only where the employer has formulated a scheme for compassionate appointment.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that there being no scheme for a compassionate appointment the applicant cannot claim an appointment.
The decisions of the court
With the above direction, the court dismissed the letter patent appeal.
Case Title: Punam Devi V. The State of Jharkhand
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Navneet Kumar
Case No.: L.P.A No. 129 of 2024
Advocate for the Appellant: Mr. Bhawesh Kumar, Advocate
Advocates for the State: Mr. Indranil Bhaduri, SC-IV Mr. Suman Marandi
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Picture Source : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jharkhand_High_Court.jpg
