1 S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.5128/2007 Jagdish Chandra Vs. State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and Ors. DATE OF ORDER : 2.12.2010 HON'BLE MR. GOVIND MATHUR, J. Mr. M. Mridul, Sr. Advocate assisted by Mr. Ashok Choudhary, for the petitioner. Mr. P.K. Lohra, for the respondent – Bank. While in service of respondent State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Shri Devi Lal Dangi, father of the petitioner died on 30.11.1990. The age of the petitioner then was 6 years and 8 months. An application was submitted by uncle of the petitioner to claim appointment on compassionate grounds and in response thereto, the Regional Manager of the Bank vide letter dated 13.10.1993 informed that the candidature of the son of Late Shri Devi Lal Dangi has been registered and necessary application may be moved on attaining the age of 18 years by his son. The petitioner on attaining the age of 21 years in the year 2004 submitted an application, seeking appointment on compassionate grounds. No response to the same was given, thus, this petition for writ is preferred. 2 The contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that in pursuant to letter dated 13.10.1993, candidature of the petitioner was registered for grant of appointment on compassionate grounds, accordingly, immediately after attaining the required age, he submitted an application, but the respondents did not choose to act upon that. It is urged that under the existing scheme appointment is required to be given to the petitioner on compassionate grounds. A reply to the writ petition has been filed on behalf of the respondents, stating therein that as per sub-clause (i) of Clause (5) of the Scheme for Appointment of Dependant of Deceased Employees on Compassionate Grounds, a request for appointment should have been received by the Bank within one year from the date of death of the employee. In case the dependant is a minor or does not possess suitable minimum qualification his/her case can be considered within four years of the death of the employee, to enable him/her to so qualify in terms of age and/or qualification, provided that the dependant has made a request to the Bank within a year of the death of the employee. The period of four years from the date of death of Shri Devi Lal Dangi expired in the month of November, 1994, thus, in view of sub-Clause (i) of Clause (5) of the Scheme above, no appointment could have been given to the petitioner. 3 Heard learned counsel for the parties. The foundation of the petitioner to claim appointment on compassionate grounds is essentially based on the assurance given by the Regional Manager of the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Regional Office-Ist under the letter dated 13.10.1993. By the letter aforesaid, while registering application submitted on behalf of the petitioner, an instruction was given to make necessary application for appointment on attaining the age of 18 years. True it is, the assurance was given by the Bank Authorities, however, that is running contrary to Clause (5)(i) of the relevant Scheme, that reads as follows :- “5. Method of appointment. i) Request for appointment under the scheme should be received by the Bank within one year from the date of death of the employee. In case the dependant is a minor or does not possess suitable minimum qualifications his/her case can be considered within four years of the death of the employee, to enable him/her to so qualify in terms of age and/or qualification, provided that the dependant has made a 4 request to the Bank within a year of the death of the employee.” In view of the provision aforesaid, the candidature of the petitioner was not open for consideration after a term of four years from the date of death of his father. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Sanjay Kumar Vs. The State of Bihar & Ors. reported in JT 2000(10) SC 156, while dealing with the similar issue held that there cannot be reservation of a vacancy till such time, as the petitioner becomes a major after a number of years, unless there are some specific provisions in this regard. The Hon'ble Supreme Court also emphasized that the very basis of compassionate appointment is to see that the family gets immediate relief. In the cash-in-hand, there is no provision to keep candidature of the petitioner alive till the attainment of majority, on the contrary, the provision is otherwise. As such, the petition for writ having no merit, the same is dismissed. (GOVIND MATHUR)J. RM/