An appointment on compassionate grounds for a reserved category post would not exempt the appointee from submitting a caste validity certificate, especially if the original holder of the post didn't produce a caste certificate during his lifetime, the Bombay High Court has ruled.
Chief Justice (CJ) Dipankar Datta and Justices Ravendra Ghuge and Vibha Kankanwadi, at the Aurangabad bench, dismissed two petitions seeking directions to the department of rural development to exempt the petitioners from producing caste certificates since their appointments were on compassionate grounds.
The 30-page judgment was authored by Justice Ghuge. CJ Datta added a separate seven-page note observing that “in our country, the dishonest spare no opportunity to obtain benefits and privileges which are not meant for them by fraud or deceit”.
“If an usurper of a public office for decades does not have any right to claim pensionary benefits, a fortiori, any dependent family member of such usurper of public office can have no better rights than him,” added CJ Datta.
According to the pleas, the petitioners were appointed on compassionate grounds after the death of their fathers who were appointed on posts reserved for Scheduled Tribes. However, they had not submitted tribal validity certificates during their appointments.
The petitioners were appointed by the Nanded zilla parishad on compassionate grounds with a condition that they would produce their tribal validity certificate within six months of the appointment. Hence, the petitioners filed two separate petitions challenging the order.
Advocate Mahesh Deshmukh, who was appointed to assist the court, argued that a person, who is appointed to a reserved category post, has to submit a validity certificate. In case, he fails to do so, then his legal heir appointed on compassionate grounds after the father’s death has to submit the certificate.
Petitioners’ advocate, CR Thorat¸ had contended that although their fathers were appointed on reserved category posts, the petitioners’ appointment on compassionate grounds was not made against reserved category posts.
