Service Law
Compassionate appointment—Maintenance and well being of surviving dependents—When one member of a family is extended the benefit of compassionate appointment, the appointment is not conferred in an individual capacity but as a representative of the entire family—It therefore carries with it a corresponding moral and legal obligation to safeguard the interests of the other surviving dependents and to ensure their maintenance and well-being.
Held : This principle is not merely ethical but finds implicit recognition in the Rajasthan Compassionate Appointment of Dependents of Deceased Government Servants Rules, 1996, which were framed precisely to uphold this humanitarian objective. The employment granted to widow of deceased cannot be viewed as a personal entitlement earned through merit or competitive process; it is, rather, a consequence of an unfortunate eventuality, intended to protect the deceased employee’s family from deprivation. Having accepted the appointment under such a scheme, widow of deceased cannot be permitted to evade or repudiate her attendant responsibilities towards the other dependents of the deceased, for to do so would defeat both the letter and spirit of the compassionate appointment policy. The initial offer of compassionate appointment was extended in favour of petitioner himself, and only upon consideration of family welfare was the same channelled in the name of widow of deceased—Petitioner, an aged man with no independent source of income and suffering from age-related ailments, has been left in a pitiable state. Such a situation, if permitted to continue, would make a mockery of the very ethos of compassionate employment and erode public confidence in the fairness of administrative benevolence. This Court refrains from delving into the personal choices of widow of deceased, it cannot countenance her breach of the solemn assurance to maintain her in-laws, nor can it permit her to enjoy the fruits of compassionate employment while neglecting those whose welfare formed the basis of such employment. This court directed to the respondent-department to ensure deduction of rupees twenty thousand only per month from the salary of widow of deceased, to be credited directly into the bank account of the petitioner towards his maintenance, which shall continue till his lifetime or until further orders of the competent authority.
[Paras 19 to 22]
Words and Phrases
Family—Meaning of—Expression “family” cannot be interpreted in a narrow or compartmentalized manner so as to mean the widow of deceased employee alone—It necessarily includes all those who were dependent upon the deceased employee at the time of his death namely, the parents, spouse, and children; for they together constitute a composite family unit bound by mutual dependency and shared vulnerability.
[Para 18]