Case: The Director of Treasuries in Karnataka &amp; Anr Vs. V. Somyashree

2. The facts leading to the present appeal in nutshell are as under:That one Smt. P. Bhagyamma, the mother of the original writ petitioner was employed with the Government of Karnataka as Second Division Assistant at Mandya District Treasury. She died on 25.03.2012. That original writ petitioner, who at the relevant time was a married daughter at the time when the deceased (Smt. P. Bhagyamma) died, initiated a divorce proceedings for divorce by mutual consent under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on 12.09.2012. By its judgment and decree dated 20.03.2013 a decree of divorce by mutual consent was passed by the Learned Principal Senior Civil Judge, CJM, Mandya. On the very next day i.e. on 21.03.2013, the original writ petitioner submitted an application to appoint her on compassionate ground on the death of her mother. By order dated 03.05.2013, the application for appointment on compassionate appointment came to be rejected on the ground that there is no provision provided under Rule 3(2)(ii) of Karnataka Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules, 1996) for divorced daughter. That the original writ petitioner made an application before the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal being application No.6396 of 2015 on 20.07.2015 i.e. after a period of approximately 2 years from the date of rejection of her application for appointment on compassionate ground. The Learned Tribunal dismissed the said application by order dated 09.12.2015 on the ground that there is no provision for appointment on compassionate ground for divorced daughter. Thereafter, the original writ petitioner approached the High Court against the order dated 09.12.2015 passed by the Learned Administrative Tribunal, Bengaluru.3. By impugned judgment and order dated 17.12.2018 the High Court has allowed the Writ Petition No.5609 of 2017 and has quashed and set aside the order dated 09.12.2015 passed by the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, Bengaluru in application No.6393 of 2015 and has directed the appellants herein to consider the application of the original writ petitioner for grant of compassionate appointment based on the observations made in the impugned judgment and order. By the impugned judgment and order the High Court has interpreted Rule 3 of the Rules, 1996 and has observed that a divorced daughter would fall in the same class of an unmarried or widowed daughter and therefore, a divorced daughter has to be considered on par with unmarried or widowed daughter.3.1 Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court, the appellants have preferred the present appeal.

Reasoning:
7. While considering the submissions made on behalf of the rival parties a recent decision of this Court in the case of N.C. Santhosh (Supra) on the appointment on compassionate ground is required to be referred to. After considering catena of decisions of this Court on appointment on compassionate grounds it is observed and held that appointment to any public post in the service of the State has to be made on the basis of principles in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and the compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule. It is further observed that the dependent of the deceased Government employee are made eligible by virtue of the policy on compassionate appointment and they must fulfill the norms laid down by the States policy. It is further observed and held that the norms prevailing on the date of the consideration of the application should be the basis for consideration of claim of compassionate appointment. A dependent of a government employee, in the absence of any vested right accruing on the death of the government employee, can only demand consideration of his/her application. It is further observed he/she is, however, entitled to seek consideration in accordance with the norms as applicable on the day of death of the Government employee. The law laid down by this Court in the aforesaid decision on grant of appointment on compassionate ground can be summarized as under:(i) that the compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule;(ii) that no aspirant has a right to compassionate appointment;(iii) the appointment to any public post in the service of the State has to be made on the basis of the principle in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India;(iv) appointment on compassionate ground can be made only on fulfilling the norms laid down by the States policy and/or satisfaction of the eligibility criteria as per the policy;(v) the norms prevailing on the date of the consideration of the application should be the basis for consideration of claim for compassionate appointment.8. Applying the law laid down by this Court in the aforesaid decision to the facts of the case on hand, we are of the opinion that as such the High Court has gone beyond Rule 2 and Rule 3 of the Rules, 1996 by directing the appellants to consider the application of the respondent herein for appointment on compassionate ground as divorced daughter.8.1 From the aforesaid rules it can be seen that only unmarried daughter and widowed daughter who were dependent upon the deceased female Government servant at the time of her death and living with her can be said to be dependent of a deceased Government servant and that an unmarried daughter and widowed daughter only can be said to be eligible for appointment on compassionate ground in the case of death of the female Government servant. Rule 2 and Rule 3 reproduced hereinabove do not include divorced daughter as eligible for appointment on compassionate ground and even as dependent. As observed hereinabove and even as held by this Court in the case of N.C. Santhosh (Supra), the norms prevailing on the date of consideration of the application should be the basis of consideration of claim for compassionate appointment. The word divorced daughter has been added subsequently by Amendment, 2021. Therefore, at the relevant time when the deceased employee died and when the original writ petitioner – respondent herein made an application for appointment on compassionate ground the divorced daughter were not eligible for appointment on compassionate ground and the divorced daughter was not within the definition of dependent.8.2 Apart from the above one additional aspect needs to be noticed, which the High Court has failed to consider. It is to be noted that the deceased employee died on 25.03.2012. The respondent herein – original writ petitioner at that time was a married daughter. Her marriage was subsisting on the date of the death of the deceased i.e. on 25.03.2012. Immediately on the death of the deceased employee, the respondent initiated the divorced proceedings under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on 12.09.2012 for decree of divorce by mutual consent. By Judgment dated 20.03.2013, the Learned Principal Civil Judge, Mandya granted the decree of divorce by mutual consent. That immediately on the very next day i.e. on 21.03.2013, the respondent herein on the basis of the decree of divorce by mutual consent applied for appointment on compassionate ground. The aforesaid chronology of dates and events would suggest that only for the purpose of getting appointment on compassionate ground the decree of divorce by mutual consent has been obtained. Otherwise, as a married daughter she was not entitled to the appointment on compassionate ground. Therefore, looking to the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, otherwise also the High Court ought not to have directed the appellants to consider the application of the respondent herein for appointment on compassionate ground as divorced daughter. This is one additional ground to reject the application of the respondent for appointment on compassionate ground.8.3 Even otherwise, it is required to be noted that at the time when the deceased employee died on 25.03.2012 the marriage between the respondent and her husband was subsisting. Therefore, at the time when the deceased employee died she was a married daughter and therefore, also cannot be said to be dependent as defined under Rule 2 of the Rules 1996. Therefore, even if it is assumed that the divorced daughter may fall in the same class of unmarried daughter and widowed daughter in that case also the date on which the deceased employee died she – respondent herein was not the divorced daughter as she obtained the divorce by mutual consent subsequent to the death of the deceased employee. Therefore, also the respondent shall not be eligible for the appointment on compassionate ground on the death of her mother and deceased employee.