By IANS,
Gandhinagar: Getting a job on compassionate grounds is neither a statutory nor a fundamental right of the family of a government employee who dies in service, the Gujarat High Court has ruled.
Justice R.R. Tripathi, in an order made available Tuesday, said: “This court has come across a matter wherein the family members of a deceased government employee are under the misconception that they have a right to appointment (on compassionate grounds).
“They think that according to their choice and convenience, and on their exercising option such appointment must be given to them. If this is allowed, it will frustrate the object of the scheme of appointment on compassionate grounds,” the court said.
The judge said that the state government should publicize the rules for such appointments.
The court said that an appointment on compassionate grounds was a matter of indulgence for a definitive purpose and neither a statutory nor a fundamental right.
The court said this while rejecting a petition filed by a dead government employee’s son who sought job on compassionate grounds.
The court noted that the petitioner did not approach the court for eight years after the family’s bread earner died.
Pradhuman Baria approached the high court after he was denied a job by the state government following his father’s death.
His counsel argued that when his father died, Baria was over 16 years and he should have been given a job.
The government counsel said instead of waiting for a member of the family to attain majority and then seek work on compassionate grounds, it is mandatory to apply for a job soon after the death of the family member in government service.