A married daughter seeking compassionate engagement must establish dependency on the deceased employee.

The applicant’s father, an Assistant Branch Post Manager (ABPM)/Gramin Dak Sevak, died in service on 17 February 2023.

The applicant, who had married on 9 February 2023, applied for compassionate engagement as a Gramin Dak Sevak. Her mother stated that she lacked the requisite educational qualifications and had no objection to the applicant’s appointment. The Department rejected the claim on the ground that a married daughter was not a dependent family member under the applicable scheme. The applicant challenged that rejection and relied on the Madhya Pradesh High Court Full Bench decision in Meenakshi Dubey.

Whether the applicant’s marriage could, by itself, exclude her from consideration for compassionate engagement

Whether the applicant established dependency on her deceased father sufficient to qualify for compassionate engagement under the applicable scheme

Under paragraph 2(c) of the Department of Posts’ Gramin Dak Sevaks (Compassionate Engagement) Scheme, 2023, eligibility turns on the scheme’s definition of dependent family members.

The Full Bench decision in Meenakshi Dubey v. M.P. Poorva Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Co. Ltd. & Ors., W.A. No. 756/2019, held that a married daughter cannot be excluded merely because of her marital status; dependency, rather than marriage, is the relevant criterion.

Under Umesh Kumar Nagpal v. State of Haryana & Ors., (1994) 4 SCC 138, compassionate appointment is an exception to ordinary recruitment intended to help a family meet the immediate financial crisis caused by an employee’s death; it is neither a vested right nor an entitlement as a matter of course.

The Tribunal accepted that Meenakshi Dubey prevents exclusion solely on the basis of marriage, but held that it does not remove the requirement to establish dependency under the applicable scheme.

The applicant’s mother’s lack of educational qualifications and her recommendation of the applicant did not, without more, establish that the applicant was wholly dependent on the deceased employee.

Finding no sufficient material to prove such dependency, the Tribunal concluded that it could not direct compassionate engagement on sympathetic grounds or by relaxing an essential scheme condition.

It dismissed the Original Application as devoid of merit, with no order as to costs.