No vested right in compassionate appointment
Compassionate appointment is not a vested right, the Supreme Court (SC) reiterated in a three Judge Bench in Tinku v State of Haryana & Others [2024 INSC 867].
It is a special appointment which is given on proper and strict scrutiny of the various parameters laid down with an intention to get the family out of a sudden pecuniary financial destitution where the sole bread earner has expired, leaving them helpless and maybe penniless.
A claim cannot be made after a long lapse
Earlier the SC clarified that 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, says the Supreme Court (SC) in State of West Bengal v Debabrata Tiwari & Ors.
The SC says 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.
In this case, the applicants for compassionate appointment filed an application in the year 2006, but they had not pursued the matter further for a period of almost ten years. Such a long delay in approaching the High Court could be regarded as a waiver of the remedy, disentitling the petitioners from relief.
The applicants when approached the High Court got an order favouring their appointment but the SC reversed the order and issued some guidelines to be followed in future cases.
Guidelines of SC on compassionate appointment
After citing a catena of judgments on compassionate appointments the SC summarised the well-settled principles on compassionate appointments as follows:
- 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.
No inheritance in compassionate appointment
The SC added that granting compassionate appointment after a long duration of period would amount to treating the claim as a matter of inheritance based on a line of succession which is contrary to the Constitution.
Compassionate appointment must be decided within six months
In an earlier occasion also, the Supreme Court (SC) states in Malaya Nanda Sethy v State of Orissa that the applications for appointment on compassionate ground ought to be decided in a time bound manner and not beyond a period of six months from the date of submission of the completed applications.
The SC was apprehensive that if the applications are not decided expeditiously, then the whole purpose of such appointments would be frustrated.
The SC added that considering the object and purpose of appointment on compassionate grounds, i.e., a family of a deceased employee may be placed in a position of financial hardship upon the untimely death of the employee while in service and the basis or policy is immediacy in rendering of financial assistance to the family of the deceased consequent upon his untimely death, the authorities must consider and decide such applications for appointment on compassionate grounds as per the policy prevalent, at the earliest, but not beyond a period of six months from the date of submission of such completed applications.
Therefore, a claim for compassionate appointment may not be entertained after lapse of a considerable period since the death of the government employee.
Conclusion
In short, the compassionate appointment is not a vested right. But it is given only to make up for the financial loss cause to the family when a person in service dies unexpectedly, by providing a job to the legal heir of the deceased person based wholly on compassion.
Such a compassionate appointment need not be given after the lapse of a long time.
