THE GOVERNMENT OF TAMILNADU vs G.PADMANABAN

Court
Madras High Court

2026:MHC:3646
W.A.NO.3506 OF 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 01.09.2026
CORAM
THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE S.M.SUBRAMANIAM
AND
THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNASWAMY GOVINDARAJAN
W.A.NO.3506 OF 2023
AND
CMP NO.28665 OF 2023
1.The Government of Tamil Nadu
Rep. By Secretary to Government
Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj (OP.1) Department
Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009.
2.The Joint Secretary to Government
Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj (OP.1) Department
Secretariat, Chennai - 600 009. … Appellants
Vs.
G.Padmanaban
S/o. R.Gunasekaran (Late)
North Street, Pannivayal Post,
Pattukkottai Taluk,
Thanjavur District – 614 602. … Respondents

PRAYER : Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent,
praying to set aside the order dated 03.11.2022 made in W.P.No.22032
of 2015.
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For Appellants : Mrs.Y.Kavitha
Additional Government Pleader
For Respondent : Ms.S.Subhiksha
for Mr.M.Ravi
J U D G M E N T
(Judgment of the Court was made by S.M.Subramaniam, J.)
The State preferred this present intra-court appeal under
Clause 15 of the Letters Patent, challenging the writ order dated
13.11.2022 passed in W.P.No.22032 of 2015.
2.The respondent / writ petitioner is the son of Late
R.Gunasekaran, who served as Assistant Section Officer in the Rural
Development and Panchayat Raj Department and died on 03.11.1995
while he was in service. At the time of death of the deceased employee,
the respondent was minor and 12 years old. The mother of the
respondent submitted an application on 11.05.1996 seeking appointment
on compassionate grounds to her son / respondent. However, the said
application was not considered. On attaining the age of majority, the
respondent again submitted an application on 19.05.2006 seeking
appointment on compassionate grounts. The said application was
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rejected on the ground that the respondent was aged 12 years at the
time of death of the deceased employee / father and the application
submitted beyond three years cannot be considered, in view of the
conditions stipulated under the scheme of compassionate appointment.
3.The respondent filed a writ petition and the same was
allowed by this Court on the ground that the mother of the respondent,
made an application in time. Such a ground raised is not in consonance
with the terms and conditions of the scheme of compassionate
appointment.
4.The application has to be submitted within a period of three
years from the date of death of the deceased employee. Such an
application must be filed only by an eligible legal heir / legal
representative of the deceased employee. The family must also be in
indigent circumstances due to the death of the deceased employee.
These all are the relevant considerations for providing appointment on
compassionate grounds. However, the eligibility criteria must also be
scrupulously followed while considering an application for appointment
on compassionate grounds.
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5.The wider constitutional ramifications and implications of
the special scheme of compassionate appointment require consideration
by this Court.
6.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 compassionate
appointments.
7.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.
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8.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.
9.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 competitive process. They
are working hard and awaiting recruitment notification from the Public
Service Commissions and the Government. Many citizens in remote
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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.
10.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”.
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11.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 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.
12.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.
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Unless such attempts are thwarted, the very spirit of constitutional
scheme of appointments are under threat.
13.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.
14.The Courts are not expected to approach such issues on
misplaced sympathy. The Court though considered such cases on
individual facts, it is 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
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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.
15.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.
16.In view of the fact that the order of the Writ Court is not in
consonance with the settled legal position governing appointment on
compassionate grounds, and considering that 31 years have lapsed from
the date of death of the deceased employee, the claim for appointment
on compassionate grounds, at this length of time, deserves no
consideration. Thus, the efflux of time is also a ground to draw an
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inference that the penurious circumstances, if any, which existed at the
time of the death of the deceased employee, cannot be taken into
consideration, after the lapse of many years.
17.Accordingly, the writ order dated 03.11.2022 passed in
W.P.No.22032 of 2015 is set aside and the writ appeal stands allowed.
No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
[S.M.S., J.] [K.G.R., J.]

01.09.2026
Index : Yes
Speaking Order : Yes
Neutral Citation : Yes
TK
To
1.The Secretary to Government
Government of Tamil Nadu
Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj (OP.1) Department
Secretariat,
Chennai - 600 009.
2.The Joint Secretary to Government
Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj (OP.1) Department
Secretariat,
Chennai - 600 009.
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2026:MHC:3646
W.A.NO.3506 OF 2023
S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J.
AND
KRISHNASWAMY GOVINDARAJAN, J.
TK

W.A.NO.3506 OF 2023
01.09.2026
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