Compassionate Appointments not a right : SC

The supreme court has made a ruling on Monday that claims cannot be made for appointments in government offices on compassionate grounds. The compassionate appointments is not a right and is applicable only in genuine cases, else it would be against the Constitution. The court rules that the public service appointments should be made strictly on the basis of open invitation of applications and merit. The compassionate appointments will go against the Article 14 or 16 of the Constitution of India. The article 14 guarantees equality before law, while 16 refers to the equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.

The appointment on compassionate ground is not another source of recruitment but merely an exception to the above requirement taking into consideration the fact of the death of the employee while in service leaves his family without any means of livelihood. The claim for appointment on compassionate ground is based on the premises that the applicant was dependent on the deceased employee. Such claim is considered as reasonable and permissible on the basis of sudden crisis occurring in the family of such employee who has served the State and dies while in service. In such cases the object is to enable the family to get over sudden financial crisis and not to confer a status on the family