Only the financially weak can seek government jobs on compassionate grounds: Bombay high court

The bench held that the complainant, being a married daughter of the deceased employee, was not eligible under the government scheme.

The Bombay high court on Monday held that people from financially sound backgrounds cannot seek government or semi-government jobs on compassionate grounds. A division bench of Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice AM Dhavale said that only people from financially backward families can be granted jobs on compassionate grounds.

The application deserves to be rejected on the ground of sound financial position of the family, said the bench. (Representational photo)

The bench was hearing a petition filed by a 27-year-old Aurangabad resident, Seema Kausar. Seema’s father, Mohammad Nasiruddin, was employed as an assistant teacher at a school run by the Urdu education society, Ajantha.

In July 2013, he died of a heart attack, following which Seema applied for the position of assistant teacher at the institute, on compassionate ground. She submitted no-objection certificates from her mother, two unmarried brothers and two married sisters.

In 2015, she approached the high court, complaining that even though a vacancy existed in one of the schools run by the educational institution, her application had not been considered favourably.

Her petition was rejected, citing her family’s financial condition. “The application deserves to be rejected on the ground of sound financial position of the family,” said the bench.

The court held that Seema, being a married daughter of the deceased employee, was not eligible under the government scheme. It added that the family had received a handsome amount following Nasiruddin’s death, and his wife received a monthly pension of Rs20,000.

If the family had been facing a financial crunch, one of the grown-up sons could have applied for the job on compassionate grounds, added the bench.