MAISUR KHAN Vs. EASTERN COALFIELDS LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE father of the petitioner died in harness oh 20. 6. 1987. At the time of his death, the petitioner's father was a Majdoor of Girimint Colliery under the Eastern Coalfields Limited. According to the petitioner, his father was the only earning member of the family and as a result of his untimely death, he along with the other family members found themselves in utter distress without means for survival. The petitioner had applied for compassionate appointment; however, the date on which such application was made has not been stated in the petition. He was called upon, in pursuance of his application, to appear before the Screening Committee on 31. 8. 1998 vide letter dated 29. 8. 1998 issued by the Agent, Girimint colliery. The petitioner appeared before the Screening Committee and thereafter had been directed to report before the Area Medical Officer for medical examination vide letter dated 25. 12. 1998. Despite medical examination, he had not been offered employment. By letter dated 17. 12. 1999, the Superintending Manager, Girimint Colliery informed the petitioner of certain deficiencies and called upon him to meet the requirements for onward transmission of his claim to the competent authority. It is claimed in the petition that the requirements were met by the petitioner by producing relevant documents; yet, no action was taken.

(2.) ULTIMATELY, by an order dated 4. 7. 2005, the petitioner was informed that the competent authority could not agree to his claim for employment on compassionate ground since on the date his father died, he was 16 years 1 month 26 days old. This order is the subject-matter of challenge in the present petition.

(3.) MR. Ganguly, learned Advocate representing the petitioner submitted that the ground on which the petitioner's claim has been rejected is not sustainable in law. According to him, employment on compassionate ground to a dependent of a deceased staff is offered in terms of provisions contained in the National Coal Wage Agreement (hereafter the NCWA) wherein no lower age limit for appointment has been specified. In this connection, he invited the attention of this Court to a Division Bench decision in Sujit Kora v. Coal India Limited and Ors. , reported in 2002 (2) CHN 557 wherein it was held that a right had accrued in favour of the appellant to obtain employment in place of his deceased father in 1989 and that because of his tender age, he could wait for a reasonable length of time before enforcing that right. It was further held therein that the decision refusing to employ the appellant on the ground that he was 12 years old in 1989 suffered from an error apparent on the face of the record since that could not be considered to be a factor to disqualify him.