STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs. DEBABRATA TIWARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeals have been filed assailing the judgment and common order of the High Court of Calcutta, dtd. 30/9/2019, in a batch of appeals being MAT 859 of 2018 with CAN 6137 of 2018 and connected matters. By the impugned judgment and common order, the Division Bench of the High Court set aside the order of the learned Single Judge of the High Court dtd. 5/7/2018, passed in W.P. No. 2739 (W) of 2016 and connected matters and directed the Director of Local Bodies, Burdwan Municipality and the concerned authority in Ranaghat and Habra Municipalities to consider the application made by the Respondents-Writ Petitioners seeking appointment on compassionate grounds. The Division Bench of the High Court also identified the scheme in light of which the said applications would have to be considered and decided.

(2.) The present appeals concern claims of the Respondents-Writ Petitioners, who are heirs of employees of Burdwan, Ranaghat and Habra Municipalities, who died in harness for compassionate appointment to posts in the concerned municipalities. All these appeals concern common questions as to the entitlement of such persons to be considered for compassionate appointment and whether any scheme of the State Government supports their claim for compassionate appointment. Further, since the case of all the Respondents is the same, the facts concerning the Burdwan Municipality alone may be succinctly stated as under:

(3.) We have heard Sri Rakesh Dwivedi, learned Senior Counsel and learned counsel, Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee appearing on behalf of the Appellant-State of West Bengal and learned counsel Sri Indradeep Pal for the Respondent-Writ Petitioners, and perused the material on record.