Consider claim of daughter, widow, for compassionate appointment: HC at BSNL

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, in a landmark judgment on the issue of compassionate appointments, has held that a woman would remain a ‘daughter’ even after her marriage or widowhood. Moreover, if she became a widow before her father’s death, she would fall within the definition of ‘daughter’ for legal and practical reasons, the court said.

With this ruling, the court granted relief to a widow who sought an appointment to her late father’s post on compassionate grounds. The court directed the competent authority, BSNL, to consider the ‘widow’s daughter”s claim for a ‘compassionate appointment’ within two months.

A division bench comprising Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Om Prakash Shukla delivered the verdict on November 22 while allowing a petition filed by Punita Bhatt alias Punita Dhawan, seeking guidelines for her compassionate appointment.

Out of sympathy, the petitioner requested to be appointed in place of her late father. Her father held the position of TOA (TL) in the office of General Manager (Telecom) and passed away on November 12, 2011.

The Assistant General Manager (HR), Office of General Manager (Telecom) told her that as a widowed daughter, she could not find a place in the eligibility criteria and therefore her application was rejected.

The petitioner first approached the Central Administrative Tribunal. The Tribunal considered the guidelines/arrangements of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for compassionate appointment and held that the petitioner was not entitled to compassionate appointment as per the eligibility criteria. It also ruled that the Tribunal could not exercise executive functions and make rules and regulations. The court therefore rejected her request.

Dissatisfied with the Tribunal’s decision, the applicant approached the court.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that she would fall within the definition of a relative because she had been dependent on her father after the death of her husband. Moreover, being a widow did not deprive her of the status of a daughter, according to the lawyer.

On the other hand, counsel for the defendant argued that the widow was not a “dependent relative” of the deceased employee under the compassionate arrangement arrangement. It was submitted that since the policy did not include such matters, the Tribunal or the court could not interfere with them.

As to whether a ‘widowed daughter’ could be included within the definition of ‘married daughter’, the court held that there was nothing to deny that a widowed daughter could be considered within the definition . It was held that in the case of a widowed daughter, the petitioner would also have lost her source of income and therefore it could be concluded that she was dependent on her father unless there was evidence that she had other sources of income.

Noting that ‘a widowed daughter’ would fall within the definition of ‘daughter’ in Note I of the Guidelines dated 9 October 1998 if she was dependent on her deceased father or mother on the date of his/her death, the court granted the request and directed the competent authority to consider the petitioner’s claim for compassionate appointment within two months.