Telangana HC Says Marital Status No Bar for Relief Job
Court rules that excluding married daughters solely on marital status violates equality and directs appointment
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has ruled that a married daughter cannot be denied compassionate appointment solely on the ground of her marital status, holding that such a restriction is unconstitutional when it discriminates between a son and a daughter. The court directed the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGSPDCL) to issue appropriate orders appointing a woman whose application had been repeatedly rejected because she was a married daughter of a deceased employee.
Justice E.V. Venugopal allowed a writ petition filed by Kumbham Jyothi, whose father, K. Ramakrishna Reddy, an assistant lineman with the power utility, died in service on June 4, 2014. The court directed the authorities to appoint her on compassionate grounds along with applicable benefits, if any.
The contention of TGSPDCL was that compassionate appointment is not a source of recruitment or an automatic right, but an exception to the general rule of recruitment based on merit and equal opportunity. Such appointments are subject to the eligibility criteria and conditions prescribed under the employer’s scheme. The authorities had also contended that she could not be considered dependent on her deceased father, as she had survived for nearly 11 years without such an appointment.
The judge cited the recent Supreme Court judgment in ‘Sayara Khatoon alias Shayara Khatoon vs State of Bihar’, which held that any classification differentiating a daughter from a son is unconstitutional and that restricting eligibility to divorced or deserted daughters cannot be sustained in law.