K.H. BASAVARAJA Vs. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The legality and correctness of the order passed by the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore, dated 18-8-2011 in Application Nos 4337-35 of 2006 and connected matters, is called in question in this petition.

(2.) Writ petitioners were appointed as either first division assistants or second division assistants or group-D employees, on the basis of orders of appointment purported to have been issued by the Director of Employment and Training, which orders are signed by the Joint Director, (Training/Administration), stating that they have been appointed on compassionate grounds. Based on these orders of appointment, the petitioners joined for duty and worked either as FDAs or SDAs or group-D employees.

(3.) After holding the enquiry, the services of the petitioners were terminated by issue of show cause notices. Challenging the same, the petitioners and others approached the Tribunal. The government contended before the tribunal that the petitioners were all appointed by some officers of the department who were in the helm of affairs at the relevant point of time, even though none of the petitioners-applicants were eligible for appointment on compassionate grounds. According to the government, none of the relatives of the petitioners died while in service to consider their cases for appointment on compassionate grounds. Hence, by issuing show cause notices calling upon the writ petitioners as to why their services should not be terminated since they did not satisfy that they were eligible for appointment on compassionate grounds, they were dismissed from service. Therefore, the government requested the tribunal to dismiss the applications filed by the petitioners-applicants.