THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT vs B ARUNPRAGADHEESH

2026:MHC:3529
WA No. 2778 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 25-08-2026
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE S. M. SUBRAMANIAM
AND
THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNASWAMY GOVINDARAJAN
WA No. 2778 of 2023
and
C.M.P.No.23311 of 2023
1. The Secretary To Government
School Education Department, Secretariat,
Chennai-600 009.
2. The Secretary to Government
Labour and Employment Department,
Secretariat, Chennai-600 009.
3. The Chief Educational Officer
Ariyalur District, Ariyalur.
4. The Joint Director of School Education
(Establishment)
O/o. The Director of School Education, College
Road, Chennai-600 006.
..Appellant(s)
Vs
B Arunpragadheesh
S/o. D. Balasubramanian,
No.1721-D, Pudupillaiyarkovil Street, Vilandai,
Andimadam (Post), Ariyalur-621 801
..Respondent(s)
Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, praying to
set aside the order dated 01.08.2022 made in W.P.No.26139/2021.
For Appellant(s): Mrs.Y.Kavitha
Additional Government Pleader
For Respondent(s): Mr.P.Ganesh
for Mr.M.Praveen Kumar
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WA No. 2778 of 2023
JUDGEMENT
(Order of the Court was made by S.M.Subramaniam J.)
Under assail is the writ order dated 01.08.2022 passed in
W.P.No.26139 of 2022.
2. The Sate preferred the present writ appeal mainly on the ground that
the respondent is ineligible for the compassionate appointment since his elder
brother is working in the Indian Bank, Royapettah Branch, Chennai and the
family is not in indigent circumstances.
3. The facts, in brief, are that the father of the writ petitioner was Late
Balasubramanian, who was employed as B.T. Assistant in the Government
Higher Secondary School, Vilandai, Ariyalur District and died on 16.10.2011,
while he was in service. The respondent is the third legal heir of the deceased
employee and submitted his application seeking compassionate appointment
in January 2012. The said application was rejected mainly on the ground that
the second legal heir of the deceased employee and the elder brother of the
respondent herein was employed in the Indian Bank, Royapettah Branch,
Chennai and further, the family was not in indigent circumstances.
Consequently, the application was rejected. The appeal preferred before the
Appellate Authority was also rejected. Thus, the writ petition came to be
instituted.
4. The learned Additional Government Pleader for the appellants would
contend that the situation of the family was assessed by the competent
authority and that they found that the elder brother of the appellant is
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2026:MHC:3529
WA No. 2778 of 2023
employed in the Indian Bank, Royapettah Brnach, Chennai and the family is
not in indigent circumstances. Thus, the claim of the respondent was
rejected.
5. The learned counsel for the respondent would oppose by stating that
the elder brother of the respondent has been residing separately and has not
been maintaining the family since 2015. That apart, there is no prohibition
under the scheme of compassionate appointment to provide appointment to
the third legal heir of the deceased employee. Thus, the reasons stated by
the competent authorities are untenable.
6. The writ Court considered these aspects and granted the relief. The
delay cannot be held against the respondent since the application was filed
within a period of three years and the respondent was pursuing the
application, but the order of rejection was passed in the year 2020. Thus, the
delay cannot be attributed against the respondent.
7. This Court has considered the rival submissions made between the
parties to the lis on hand.
8. The wider constitutional ramifications and implications of the special
scheme of compassionate appointment require consideration by this Court.
9. The scheme of compassionate appointment is a concession and not
a constitutional scheme of appointment. Compassion can never be claimed
as an absolute right. Thus, the scheme is to be implemented scrupulously in
terms and conditions stipulated. Let us examine the effects and ill-effects of
the non-constitutional, concessional scheme of appointments like
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2026:MHC:3529
WA No. 2778 of 2023
compassionate appointments.
10. The effect of compassionate appointment in one angle, is that the
family, who lost the breadwinner is able to secure a job under the
compassionate appointment and lead their livelihood peacefully. The very
object of the scheme is to mitigate the circumstances arising out of sudden
death of an employee. Therefore, the relevant consideration would be that the
family should not be in a position to maintain themselves and the income of
the breadwinner alone was the protector of the family.
11. If the family is able to lead their livelihood in the absence of the
income earned by the breadwinner, then such family may not be eligible to
secure employment on compassionate grounds. If this criteria is diluted, then
the very scheme of compassionate appointment and its objectives are
defeated. This is exactly the reason why extra-constitutional schemes of
special appointments are given in a restricted manner so as to ensure only
deserving families get the benefits and the scheme is not misused or abused
so as to deprive the meritorious candidates of securing employment.
12. The ill-effects of this scheme are to be considered in a constitutional
perspective. Equal employment in public employment is a constitutional
mandate. Social justice is the philosophy enunciated under the constitution
and is to be achieved by the State to ensure that every citizen gets equal
opportunity in public employment. All public appointments are to be made
under the constitutional scheme of appointments. Lakhs and lakhs of youth of
our great nation are longing to secure public employment through an open
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WA No. 2778 of 2023
competitive process. They are working hard and awaiting recruitment
notification from the Public Service Commissions and the Government. Many
citizens in remote areas of our Country are first time graduates and are
waiting for such employment notification to secure public employment, which
they consider as a status in the society. Depriving those meritorious
candidates of securing employment on merits and through reservation is
unconstitutional. Therefore, the scheme of compassionate appointment itself
is violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Under the
scheme, no merit assessment has been made, no reservation is followed,
eligibility criteria is not followed and death alone is the criteria to provide public
employment. Therefore, the scheme is to be implemented in a restricted
manner.
13. Article 335 of the Constitution of India denotes claims of Scheduled
Castes / Scheduled Tribes to service and posts. The said Article enumerates
that “the claims of the members of the Scheduled Tribes / Scheduled Castes
shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of
efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and
posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State”.
14. The constitution mandates even while providing public appointments
to the Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe candidates, maintenance of
efficiency of administration in making of such appointments is of paramount
importance. That being the spirit of constitution, the scheme of
compassionate appointment, if leading to an inefficiency in public
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administration, the scheme is to be revisited by the States and the Union so
as to ensure the most deserving family alone has been provided with
compassionate appointment in a restricted manner to protect the basic rights
of the meritorious candidates, including the Scheduled Castes / Scheduled
Tribes candidates, who are all aspiring to secure public employment through
the constitutional scheme of appointments.
15. The scheme of compassionate appointment is a special
consideration extended to the families of the deceased employee mostly on
sympathy grounds and also to protect their livelihood. Therefore, the scheme
must act in its real objective and not to provide one appointment to the legal
heirs of the deceased employee. However, in recent times, the scheme has
been misconstrued or misinterpreted so as to secure public employment
through this concessional scheme of appointments. Unless such attempts are
thwarted, the very spirit of constitutional scheme of appointments are under
threat.
16. The State has to ensure equal opportunity in public employment and
social justice as mandated to protect the rule of reservation for the socially
backward and downtrodden communities. Any extended scheme of
concessional appointments, undoubtedly would deprive the opportunities of
weaker section in the society and thereby offending the principles of social
justice as mandated under the constitution.
17. The Courts are not expected to approach such issues on misplaced
sympathy. The Court though considered such cases on individual facts, it is
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the duty bound to assess the mitigating factors so as to strike a balance and
ensure that the constitutional mandates and rights of citizens in the society to
secure public employment are protected and preserved. Therefore, the
Courts are not expected to be carried away by misplaced sympathy on the
ground that an employee died and therefore, give appointment to the legal
heirs. The penurious circumstances prevailing in the family are of paramount
importance for extending the scheme of compassionate appointment. Any
routine orders passed by the Courts would not only offend the constitution but
deny employment opportunity to meritorious candidates, who are all waiting
for public employment.
18. The Courts, while considering the effects of compassionate
appointment, are expected to equally consider the ill-effects and strike a
balance and adopt a pragmatic approach to ensure that the scheme is
employed properly. In the event of the scheme causing infringement of the
rights of the citizen, then the State is expected to revisit the scheme to bring
appropriate conditions so as to ensure that the constitutional protection given
to the citizens are preserved.
19. Coming to the facts of the present case, the father of the respondent
died on 16.10.2011. First application seeking appointment on compassionate
ground was filed in January 2012. The second application was filed in the
year 2014. There was a delay in rejecting the application, which was done in
the year 2020. The writ petition came to be filed in the year 2021. Though
there was no delay on the part of the respondent in submitting the application,
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the authorities, during evaluation, found that the family was not in indigent
circumstances, more so the elder brother of the respondent was employed in
the Indian Bank, Royapettah Branch, Chennai. For all these reasons, the
claim of the respondent was rejected. That apart, the delay in providing the
appointment is also a ground whereby the factual inference can be drawn that
the penurious circumstances, if at all arose, became vanished on account of
the efflux of time.
20. However, all these factors were assessed by the competent
authority in the present case, and it formed an opinion that the family is not in
indigent circumstances. Thus, the writ order dated 01.08.2022 passed in
W.P.No.26139 of 2021 is set aside. The Writ Appeal stands allowed.
Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed. No costs.
(S.M.S.,J.) (K.G.R.,J.)
25-08-2026
Index : Yes
Neutral Citation : Yes
Speaking order
mk
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2026:MHC:3529
WA No. 2778 of 2023
S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J.
AND
KRISHNASWAMY GOVINDARAJAN, J.
mk
WA No. 2778 of 2023
25-08-2026
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