HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH AND HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU W.P.No.27783 of 2009 Dt.21.12.2009 Between: Smt.Zareena Rafi .. Petitioner And The Government of A.P. rep. by its Principal Secretary, I & CAD Department Secretariat, Hyderabad and others .. Respondents HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE V.ESWARAIAH AND HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU W.P.No.27783 of 2009 ORDER: (Per Sri Justice Samudrala Govindarajulu) This writ petition is filed questioning the order dated 30.10.2002 passed by the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, in O.A.No.514 of 1998 by which the Tribunal dismissed the O.A. The petitioner sought for appointment on compassionate grounds on the ground that her husband Mohd. Rafiuddin died on 30.3.1983 while in Government service. The petitioner applied for compassionate appointment on 3.1.1994 for the post of Record Assistant or any other suitable post. The said application was rejected by the Department. Questioning the same, the petitioner filed O.A. before the Tribunal. The Tribunal heard the matter at length and considered all the aspects and came to the conclusion that the petitioner is not eligible even for appointment to the post of Attender as she did not possess requisite educational qualification of 7th class and also held that the application of the petitioner for compassionate appointment was unduly delayed by 11 years. It is contended by the counsel for the petitioner before this Court that educational qualification of 7th class is not required for all posts in the last grade service and that it is only required for the post of Attender as per Annexure-I to the Andhra Pradesh Last Grade Service Rules, 1992. In so far as other posts in the last grade service like Helper, Sweeper etc., are concerned, there is no minimum educational qualification prescribed under the Rules. Therefore, we hold that the petitioner who did not possess educational qualification of 7th class is though not eligible for appointment as Attender/Office Subordinate, is equally eligible for appointment to other categories like Sweeper, Helper etc., in the A.P.Last Grade Service. At the same time, as per G.O.Ms.No.687, GAD, dated 3.10.1977, application for compassionate appointment has to be filed and has to be entertained within a period of one year from date of occurrence of death of the Government servant. The idea of providing compassionate appointment to members of family of the Government servant who died in harness is to see that the family is not driven to roads for their sustenance and to provide some security for their sustenance because of the event which was not in their contemplation. In this case, the petitioner made application for compassionate appointment nearly 11 years after death of her husband, by which time the prescribed period for such application expired long back. Secondly, even after dismissal of the O.A. by the Tribunal on 30.10.2002, the petitioner approached this Court on 14.12.2009 more than 7 years thereafter. Thus, the petitioner did not apply for appointment on compassionate grounds within the prescribed period provided in G.O.Ms.No.687, dated 3.10.1977, and the petitioner did not approach this Court against order of the Tribunal in O.A. within a reasonable time. In that view of the matter, we hold that the petitioner is guilty of laches in approaching this Court. We further hold that the petitioner is also not entitled for applying for compassionate appointment after the prescribed period of one year as provided in G.O.Ms.No.687, dated 3.10.1977. Thus, though the petitioner was qualified for appointment, the petitioner is not entitled for compassionate appointment for the reasons given above. Hence, the writ petition is dismissed at the admission stage. ________________ V.ESWARAIAH, J. ________________________________ SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU, J. 21.12.2009 kpr