Deceased employee's on-roll substitute status and death in harness entitle dependents to compassionate appointment consideration.

The applicant’s mother, Late Smt. Shyam Kali Devi, was appointed as a Substitute Safaiwali in North Eastern Railway in 1988 and granted temporary status in 2005

In 2012, her services were terminated after being declared overage during a screening test for regularization. This termination was quashed by the Tribunal in O.A. No. 1182/2012, directing her reinstatement with temporary status and fresh screening with age relaxation

Consequently, she was reinstated on 15.04.2015. While in service, she died in a train accident on 05.10.2015

The respondents challenged the 2012 Tribunal order via Writ Petition No. 7159/2015, where regularization was stayed. Following her death, the High Court held the writ petition abated against her on 05.10.2018

The applicant’s request for compassionate appointment was kept in abeyance by the respondents citing the pendency of the said writ petition regarding her service status

1. Whether the respondents were justified in keeping the applicant's claim for compassionate appointment in abeyance due to the pendency of a writ petition regarding the deceased’s regularization

2. Whether a Substitute Safaiwali with temporary status who dies in harness entitles her ward to compassionate appointment under Railway Board policies

Master Circular No. 16 (and relevant Railway Board letters No. E(NG)II/84/CL/28) regarding Appointment on Compassionate Grounds, which empowers General Managers to appoint wards of casual labor/substitutes with temporary status who die due to accidents while on duty

The principle of age relaxation for on-roll substitutes as established in Inspector General on Registration U.P. and another v. Avdesh Kumar and others

Procedural finality of its own previous order in O.A. No. 1182/2012 which mandated reinstatement

The Tribunal reasoned that since the deceased employee was reinstated in compliance with judicial orders and was actively discharging duties at the time of her death, the respondents could not deny consequential benefits to her dependents

The court noted that while the High Court had stayed "regularization," it had not stayed "reinstatement," and the respondents had voluntarily treated her as being in service

Furthermore, because the High Court declared the writ petition abated against the deceased, no legal grounds remained for the respondents to link the compassionate appointment claim to the final disposal of that petition

The Tribunal found the respondents' argument—that the deceased was a part-time worker—unsustainable given documentary evidence of her "on-roll substitute" status and receipt of a regular pay scale

The respondents were directed to consider the applicant for appointment on compassionate grounds, treating the deceased as having died in harness as a Substitute Safaiwali with temporary status, and to pass a reasoned order within three months