Natural death lacking a causal connection to service duties is ineligible for ex-gratia lumpsum compensation.

The Petitioner’s husband, a Junior Engineer (Civil) in the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), served from 2002 until his death on December 20, 2021

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 but resumed duty after treatment

The Petitioner alleged her husband died of cardiac arrest while "on duty" and sought ex-gratia compensation of ₹25,00,000/- and compassionate appointment

The Respondents rejected the ex-gratia claim via a letter dated June 5, 2023, asserting the death was due to natural causes (cancer) and occurred while the deceased was on sanctioned casual leave

Regarding compassionate appointment, the Respondents stated the Petitioner was considered for the 2022 vacancy year but could not be appointed due to a lack of vacancies and her Relative Merit Points (RMP) ranking

1. Whether the Petitioner is entitled to ex-gratia lump sum compensation under OM dated 11.09.1998 (as amended on 04.08.2016) for a death allegedly caused by service-related stress

2. Whether the Respondents’ refusal to grant compassionate appointment for the vacancy year 2022 was arbitrary or illegal

The court applied the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DOP&T) OM No. 45/55/97 P&PW (C) dated 11.09.1998, as amended by OM dated 04.08.2016, which provides for ex-gratia compensation in cases of death occurring due to accidents or during the performance of duties

It considered the principles from Ram Devi v. DG, BSF and Sangita Tomar v. Union of India, which allow compensation if death by cardiac arrest is linked to the stress and strain of duty

Regarding compassionate appointment, the court applied DoPT OM F. No. 14014/02/2012-Estt.(D) dated 16.01.2013, which limits such appointments to 5% of direct recruitment vacancies in Group ‘C’ posts based on an RMP scale

Regarding the ex-gratia claim, the court found that the Petitioner failed to prove the deceased was "on duty" at the time of death.

Evidence indicated he was on sanctioned casual leave and was brought to the hospital by his brother, suggesting he was with family

Furthermore, while the immediate cause of death was "cardio-pulmonary arrest," the medical certificate cited "Recurrent Metastatic Carcinoma" (cancer) as the antecedent cause

The court held there was no medical evidence to link the cancer to service conditions, distinguishing this case from precedents where sudden cardiac events occurred during or immediately after high-stress deployment

Regarding compassionate appointment, the court noted that the Petitioner was duly considered but ranked 394th out of 543 candidates

As the 5% statutory cap on vacancies was filled by higher-ranking candidates, no arbitrariness was found in the denial

On the issue of compassionate appointment, the court declined to interfere with the 2022 selections but directed that if the Petitioner applies for the upcoming vacancy year, the Respondents must duly consider her application and communicate the specific breakdown of her RMP score within four weeks of the decision

The writ petition was disposed of with these directions