MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court bench at Aurangabad recently voiced its concern over the fact that applications seeking compassionate appointments are pending with authorities for decades altogether. The HC said the Maharashtra government must be sensitive and have a humane approach towards such applications.
A bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Sanjay Mehare was hearing a petition filed by a girl, who sought compassionate job after her father's demise.
Notably, the girl's mother had sought her appointment as a teacher replacing her deceased father. However, the mother's application was kept pending for more than a decade. The girl again filed an application in 2018 seeking the appointment, however, the school informed her only in 2021, after the orders of the court that there were no vacant posts available left to accommodate her.
The judges noted that during the pendency of her plea, the girl got married and had attained the age of 31 years now, making her plea devoid of merits.
Notably, the government resolution issued by the state in 2002, allows only an unmarried daughter or unmarried sister to seek compassionate job.
Taking note of the facts of the case, the bench dismissed the girl's plea but expressed its displeasure over the fact that the authorities kept her plea pending for over a decade, during which the girl got married as she wasn't aware of the laws properly.
"Our experience is that the applications for seeking compassionate appointments are kept pending for several years. This is not the first case in which the claim is pending for 11 years. We have come across several cases wherein claims are pending upto 14 to 15 years," the bench expressed.
"We, therefore, find it appropriate to direct the Principal Secretary, School Education as well as the various education departments of Maharashtra, to issue directions to all its officers, to ensure that after the death of an employee, the family eligible for compassionate appointment, is to be informed as regards the scheme within a period of one month, so as to enlighten them about their legal rights," the bench ordered.
"Further directions shall be issued to ensure that the application seeking compassionate appointment should not be kept pending for more than one year," the bench said, adding, "Such responsibility should be cast on such officers in order to avoid frustration of such applicants."
"It cannot be ignored that the bereaved family alone knows its difficulties and the government, as well as the employers, should respond with sensitivity while dealing with such applications," the bench opined, adding, "A humane approach is necessary to be adopted in such matters and we expect the state to issue appropriate directions and notifications to ensure that such applications are dealt with and disposed off within a maximum period of one year."
