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Haryana govt directs MDU to appoint deceased ASI’s wife
In a letter dated January 20, the Haryana chief secretary wrote to the additional chief secretary, education, seeking directions to the MDU registrar to grant Santosh Kumari a compassionate appointment.
The Haryana government has directed Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, to issue an appointment letter to Santosh Kumari, wife of late assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Sandeep Kumar Lathar, as a PGT (Mathematics) at the university’s campus school.
In a letter dated January 20, the Haryana chief secretary wrote to the additional chief secretary, education, seeking directions to the MDU registrar to grant Santosh Kumari a compassionate appointment. The appointment, approved by the Council of Ministers on January 1, has been cleared as a special, one-time measure with relaxation in provisions of the Haryana Civil Services (Compassionate Financial Assistance or Appointment) Rules, 2019.
The letter states that the appointment should be issued subject to Santosh Kumari meeting eligibility criteria under service rules and verification of her original certificates.
Sources said the Haryana Police had earlier voluntarily contributed ₹2.06 crore to support the family’s children’s education and other expenses. Following Lathar’s death, Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar had announced that a government job would be provided to his wife and assured support for the education of their three children.
Lathar’s cousin, Sanjay Deswal, said the government had fulfilled its promise and Santosh Kumari would soon join her post.
ASI Sandeep Lathar, 41, was found dead with a gunshot wound on October 14, along with a purported suicide note alleging corruption against then inspector general of police Y Puran Kumar. The incident followed Kumar’s own death a week earlier.
An FIR registered on October 15 named IAS officer Amneet P Kumar, her brother, Bathinda (rural) MLA Amit Rattan, and two police personnel on charges of abetment to suicide. In her statement, Santosh Kumari alleged sustained pressure on her husband due to his role in a corruption-related case.
