Madras High Court
Saheel Aqthar vs The Chief Engineer(Personnel) on 1 April, 2021
1
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 01.04.2021
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA
AND
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE S.KANNAMMAL
W.A(MD)NO.769 OF 2021
and
C.M.P(MD)No.3457 of 2021
Saheel Aqthar :Appellant/Petitioner
.vs.
1.The Chief Engineer(Personnel),
Tamil Nadu Generation and
Distribution Corporation Limited,
TANGEDCO,
144, Anna Salai,
Chennai-2.
2.The Superintending Engineer,
Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution
Corporation Limited,
TANGEDCO,
Madurai Electricity Distribution Circle,
Madurai. : Respondents/Respondents
PRAYER: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent
praying this Court to set aside the order passed by this Court in
W.P(MD)No.22676 of 2017, dated 20.1.2021.
For Appellant :Mr.G.Kannan
for M/s.S.Veera Associates
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2
JUDGMENT
*************
[Judgment of the Court was made by PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA,J.]
This Writ Appeal has been preferred against the judgment of
the learned Single Judge declining to interfere with the impugned
order refusing to grant appointment on compassionate grounds to
the Petitioner/appellant.
2.Heard the learned counsel for the appellant and perused
the materials placed before this Court.
3.Admittedly, the father of the appellant died on 4.1.2010, by
which time, the appellant was 11 years old and a minor. However,
the mother of the appellant had made an application for
compassionate appointment on behalf of the minor on 3.12.2012
which was rejected on 3.1.2013. Thereafter, on 5.7.2017, when the
appellant attains majority, he made an application once again for
appointment on compassionate grounds on 16.09.2017.This
application was rejected, as the application ought to have been
made within three years from the date of death of the Government
servant. In this case, thought he had applied for, through his
mother within a period of three years, he was not qualified for
employment. Being compassionate appointment, it is always open
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to the mother of the appellant who was on that date qualified to
take up the employment . However, that had not been done so in
this case.
4.The learned Single Judge had referred to the judgment in
W.A.No.3899 of 2019 in the case of Poongodi .vs. The
Chairman, Electricity Board, wherein, it is stated that the
minimum age is 18 years and a minor cannot be appointed into the
Government Service. The complaint of the appellant is that none of
the orders referred to in the case of minors, when the cause of
action arises during their minority. We failed to understand that
compassionate appointment as contemplated, is only a succor to
the family which is in penury, which had lost its sole bread winner.
It has been well settled that appointment on compassionate
grounds is an offer to a dependant of the deceased employee, as an
exception of the usual norms. The compassionate appointment
cannot be claimed as a matter of right, as it has no vested right. It
is also open to the employer to modify the scheme depending on
the policies that they follow.
5.At this juncture, it is pertinent to advert to the decision of
the Honourable Apex Court in the case of N.C.Santhosh .vs. State
of Karnataka and others reported in (2020) 7 Supreme
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Court Cases 617, in which. it has been held as follows:
''19.Applying the law governing compassionate
appointment culled out from the above cited
judgments, our opinion on the point at issue is that
the norms, prevailing on the date of consideration of
the application, should be the basis for consideration
of claim for compassionate appointment. A
dependant of a government employee, in the absence
of any vested right accruing on the demand
consideration of his/her application. He is, however,
dis-entitled to seek consideration in accordance with
the norms as applicable, on the day of death of the
government employee.''
6.It is not in dispute that in the State of Tamil Nadu also
G.O.Ms.No.18, Labour and Employment(Q1) Department, dated
23.1.2020 was issued giving comprehensive guidelines on
compassionate appointment. The said Government Order
prescribes that an application for compassionate appointment
may be submitted within three years from the date of death of the
Government Servant and on the date of application, the applicant
should complete the minimum age of 18 years and the maximum
age limit for the spouse/father/mother is 50 years on the date of
death of the Government Servant. The maximum age limit for the
son or daughter of the deceased Government Servant and
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unmarried brother/unmarried sister of the unmarried deceased
Government Servant is 40 years at the time of applying.
Advertently, in this case, on the date of death of the employee, the
appellant was a minor and though he had made an application
through his mother, he did not have the required qualification
namely, completion of 18 years. Therefore, it was rightly rejected
and for the second time, which is time barred, cannot be
entertained and it is rightly rejected by the authorities and
confirmed by the learned Single Judge. This Court finds no infirmity
in the order of the learned Single Judge and accordingly, the Writ
Appeal stands dismissed. No costs. Consequently, connected
Miscellaneous Petition is dismissed.
[P.S.N.,J.] & [S.K.,J.]
01.04.2021
Index:Yes/No
Internet:Yes/No
vsn
Note :
In view of the present lock
down owing to COVID-19
pandemic, a web copy of
the order may be utilized
for official purposes, but,
ensuring that the copy of
the order that is presented
is the correct copy, shall be
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the responsibility of the
advocate / litigant
concerned.
To
1.The Chief Engineer(Personnel),
Tamil Nadu Generation and
Distribution Corporation Limited,
TANGEDCO,
144, Anna Salai,
Chennai-2.
2.The Superintending Engineer,
Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution
Corporation Limited,
TANGEDCO,
Madurai Electricity Distribution Circle,
Madurai.
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PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA J.
AND
S.KANNAMMAL, J.
vsn
JUDGMENT MADE IN
W.A(MD)NO.769 OF 2021
and
C.M.P(MD)No.3457 of 2021
01.04.2021
http://www.judis.nic.in
