The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed an appeal preferred by the State against a Single Bench order that had allowed a petition filed by a woman who sought appointment on compassionate grounds.
The State had challenged the order passed by a Single Bench in 2021. The claim for appointment on compassionate grounds made by the woman from Pudukkottai district had been rejected by the authorities since she was married.
The Single Bench relied on a government order issued in 2020 wherein certain provisions had been made for compassionate appointment even to married daughters. The Single Bench had allowed the petition filed by R. Parvathavarthini. Her mother G. Thilagam who was working as a Supervisor in the Department of Agricultural Marketing died in 2009, in harness. Challenging the Single Bench order, the State had preferred an appeal.
A Division Bench of Justices R. Subramanian and L. Victoria Gowri took note of the fact that the sole ground on which the claim was rejected was that the writ petitioner was a married daughter. The entitlement of married daughters to compassionate appointment is no longer res integra, the judges observed.
The judges observed that the Supreme Court had affirmed the judgment of the High Court of Karnataka, wherein the High Court of Karnataka had struck down the Rule denying compassionate appointment to a married daughter.
The question of denying compassionate appointment to married daughters is unavailable to the employer any more, the judges observed and dismissed the appeal preferred by the State. The court directed the State to consider the case of the respondent/writ petitioner at the earliest and provide her with employment on compassionate ground, within six months.
