The Madras high court has observed that no recruitment can be made on compassionate ground without a vacancy.
An HC bench of Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M. Venugopal allowed an appeal by the central excise department and observed that the court could not be swayed by sympathetic considerations and no recruitment can be made if there is no vacancy.
The central excise department had challenged a March 15, 2010, order of the TN bench of Central Administrative Tribunal.
The tribunal had in 2010 directed the former to reconsider the job application submitted by the wife of a driver of the central excise department who died while in service in February 2005.
The deceased driver’s wife sought a job on compassionate ground for her eldest daughter.
The application was declined citing lack of vacancy, following which she moved CAT.
The tribunal suggested reconsideration of application in the next available vacancy on the ground that the delay had occurred for want of vacancy.
The judges said that there were few exceptions to this general rule to meet the needs of state ideals, adding that the main reason for providing appointment on compassionate ground bypassing the regular recruitment procedure through open competition was that an individual appointee would maintain those who were the dependents in the family of the deceased employee.
Such an appointment was to grant minimum relief to the family of the deceased employee, the bench said.