JYOTHI S. Vs. MANGALORE ELECTRICITY SUPPLY COMPANY LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Father of the petitioner, one Sannaiah, was a lineman in employment of the respondent company. He died on 05.05.1999 in harness, leaving behind his widow and children. Petitioner's mother, who was receiving the family pension, died on 04.05.2010. The petitioner, fourth daughter of Sannaiah, born on 03.09.1985, was aged about 14 years, when her father died. She has two elder sisters, an elder brother and two younger brothers. About 14 years after the death of Sannaiah, petitioner applied during 2013 for providing her employment in the respondent company on compassionate grounds. The application having been returned on 03.08.2013 vide Annexure-G, on the ground that the claim cannot be considered, since, within one year of death of the employee, the application was not submitted, this writ petition was filed on 28.10.2013, to quash Annexure-G and a mandamus to the respondents to provide her appointment on compassionate grounds.

(2.) Learned advocate contended that, when Sannaiah died in harness, petitioner was a minor and family pension paid to the petitioner's mother having been stopped on account of her death on 04.05.2010, compassionate grounds having continued to subsist, petitioner applied during 2013 and the decision of the respondents vide Annexure-G, virtually rejecting the claim on the ground that the appointment was not sought within one year of death of Sannaiah is irrational, capricious, illegal and therefore, there is a need in this case to examine, whether the appointment of the petitioner should be made on compassionate grounds.

(3.) The object of appointment of a dependent of a deceased employee, who died in harness, is to relieve unexpected immediate hardship and distress caused to the family by sudden demise of an earning member of the family and not to confer a status on the family. Appointment on compassionate grounds has to be made in accordance with the Rules, Regulations, Scheme or administrative instructions, by also taking into consideration the financial condition of the family of the deceased. Appointment on compassionate grounds cannot be sought / granted at any time in future, since it is not a vested right and must be made in accordance with the Scheme or the administrative instructions, in as much as the object of providing employment on compassionate grounds is to enable the family to get over financial crisis, which it faced, at the time of death of sole bread earner.