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Married daughter cannot be denied Compassionate Employment on the grounds of Gender and Martial Status: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court recently passed a judgment providing relief to a married daughter who was denied compassionate employment on the ground of her being a married daughter of the deceased employee by The Jharkhand Urja Vikash Nigam Limited. This was seen in the case of Rita Giri Vs The Jharkhand Urja Vikash Nigam Limited and others (Writ Petition No. 1800 of 2018) and the case was presided over by Honourable Dr. Justice S.N. Pathak.

FACTS OF THE CASE:

As per the petitioner, her mother who was a permanent employee, died while working as Peon in the office of the Electric Supply Division, Dhanbad. Therefore, the petitioner unmarried and wholly dependent upon her mother applied for compassionate employment by following the procedure established by law. However, the Petitioner got married and the application was rejected after four years by The Jharkhand Urja Vikash Nigam Limited on the grounds of being the married daughter of the deceased employee. Through her learned counsel, the petitioner prayed for quashing of the impugned order rejecting her compassionate employment on the grounds of gender bias which is not sustainable in the eyes of law.

JUDGEMENT

The learned Single Judge in this case acknowledged the rival submissions of the parties across the Bar and on perusal of the documents brought on records, considered that the case of the petitioner needs addressing. The Court relied on various judgments of different High Courts and the Supreme Court of India to give the final Judgement. It most heavily relied on the case that appeared before the Division bench of the same court (Madhubala Sinha Vs. M/s Central Coalfields Ltd & Others in L.P.A. No. 617 of 2017), wherein, the applicant, being the mother of the deceased employee, gave application for appointment of her unmarried daughter, on account of the death of his son, but she was denied appointment, only on the ground that the sister is not included in the list of dependents for being appointed on the compassionate ground but the Division bench held that sister is entitled to be appointed on compassionate ground, and also directed the respondents to include sister as well as married dependent daughter within the definition of dependent, which has also been affirmed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court by rejecting the special leave petition preferred by the Central Coalfields Ltd & Others, in Special Leave to Appeal No. 29678 of 2019. The Court also cited the case of the State of West Bengal & Others. Vs. Purnima Das & Others reported in 2017 SCC OnLine Cal 13121, where, the Full Bench of the Calcutta High Court reiterated that the marital status of the daughter is not reasonable ground to exclude her from compassionate employment.

Moreover, the respected Court directed the respondent-JUVNL to appoint the petitioner in place of her deceased mother on compassionate grounds, so that she can earn a livelihood and support her family who had been left helpless and without the means of livelihood after the sudden demise of the sole bread-earner of the family.

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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY ABHINAV SHUKLA.

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