Holding

The appeal is allowed and the matter is remanded to the High Court to decide the relevant date for consideration of compassionate appointment.

Summary

Maharani Devi, the widow of a deceased railway storeman, sought a compassionate appointment for her nephew under a 1991 Railway Board circular that allowed near‑relatives of an issueless employee to be appointed. The Railway Board amended the circular on 13 December 1995, deleting the provision for near‑relatives, and the amendment was not made retrospective. The widow filed representations for the appointment on 5 December 1995 and again on 29 February 1996, both of which were rejected. The Central Administrative Tribunal held that the amended circular applied because the relevant date was the date of representation, not the employee’s death, and dismissed the claim. The petitioner’s writ petition was dismissed by the Patna High Court, and the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, remanding the matter to the High Court to determine whether the date of death or the date of representation is the appropriate reference point for compassionate appointment.

Issues considered

The appropriate date for determining eligibility for compassionate appointment – whether it is the date of the employee's death or the date on which the representation/application is made.
Whether the Railway Board's amendment dated 13 December 1995, which was not retrospective, can be applied to a case where the employee died before the amendment.
Whether the receipt of a family pension and service dues by the widow defeats the claim of hardship for compassionate appointment.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 14, s. Article 16, s. Article 19(1)(f), s. Article 309, s. Article 31(1)

Subjects

compassionate appointmentrailway service lawretrospective amendmentwidow's rightsCentral Administrative Tribunalrelevant datewrit petitionSupreme Court

Judgment

(2009] 9 S.C.R. 530
Y~ "
A MAHARANI DEVI & ANR.
v.
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 3581 of 2008)
MAY 15, 2009
B
;._
[TARUN CHATIERJEE AND V.S. SIRPURKAR, JJ.]
+
Service law - Compassionate appointment - Employee
dying iss.ueless - Claim of compassionate appointment by
c widow in favour of near relative bn basis of circular dated
16.05.1991 - However, amendment to the circular deleting
the provision providing for compassionate appointment to
-..-.
near relative and circular not made retrospective - Issue
regarding relevant date for consideration, date of death of ,...
D employee or date of filing representation-when was the
"j_
amended circular enforced, not considered by High Court -
Hence, matter remitted to High Court - Circular No.
E(NG)111/88/RC-111 dated 16.05.1991; RBE 102191.

Auditor General of India v. G. Ananta Rajeswara Rao
E
1994 (1) SCC 192; Project Uccha Vidyalaya Shikshak Sangh
v. State 2001 (1) PLJR 287; Balbir Kaur and Ors. v. Steel ~

Authority of India AIR 2000 SC 1906; Chairman Railway
Board and Ors. v. C.R. Rangadhamaiah and Ors. 1997 (6)
sec 623, referred to.
r ....
F
State Bank of lnc/ia and Ors. v. Jaspal Kaur 2007 (9) SCC
571, distinguished.
Case Law Reference:
_, ...
G 1994 -(1) sec 192 Referred to. Para 4
,..._
2001 (1) PLJR 287 Referred to. Para 6 I J

AIR 2000 SC 1906 Referred to. Para 7

H 530
MAHARANI DEVI & ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 531
#---~

·> 1997 (6) sec 623 Referred to. Para 12 A
2001 (9) sec s11 Distinguished. Para 14
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.
3581 of 2009.
B
From the Judgment & Order dated 15.2.2005 of the High
~
Court of Judicature at Patna in Civil Writ Petition No. 2213 of
~
2005.

Shweta Garg for the Appellant.
c
Haris_h Chandra, Sadhan Sandhu and AK. Sharma D.S.
Mahra for the Respondents .
...:
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
.... V.S. SIRPURKAR, J. 1. Leave granted . D
.:t
2; Appellant No.1 is the widow of one Shri Kailash Singh
who was working as Storeman under the Eastern Railways,
BiharWhile the appellant No.2 is his nephew. The said Kailash
Singh expired on 03.12.1995. He was a permanent employee E
of the Eastern Railways, now the East Central Railways. He
died issueless. As per tile claim of the appellants, appellant
,.
No.1 who is a helpless widow, after the death of her husband,
... ~ the application· came to be submitted on 05.12.1995 for
compassionate appointment before the Divisional Railway F
Manager, Danapur (second respondent) in favour of the second
appellant since the late Kailash Singh died issueless and in
case of the employee dying issueless his near relative could
get the compassionate appointment on the basis of a circular
No. E(NG)111/88/RC-111 dated .16.05.1991; RBE 102/91.
,,,.. f. G

. •
3. Unfortunately for her, on 13.12.1995, the Railway Board,
· by its order, took a policy decision and introduced an
amendment to the above mentioned C.frcular dated 16.05.1991
deleting the provision of providing compassionate appointment
H
532 SUPREME COURT REPORTS . [2009] 9 S.C.R.
....
I -,.

A to the near relative. This decision was circulated by a Circular c-
'
dated 22.12.1995. It must be added here that the Circular was
not retrospective.

4. Since the application made by her was not responded
to, another representation was made on 29.02.1996 for
B
compassionate appointment for the second appellant. By order
dated 19.03.1997, this application came to be rejected without ,,,""-
giving any reasons. One more representation was made
through Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Leader of the Opposition in
+
Bihar Assembly by his letter No. 1424 dated 06.10.1999
c addressed to the- Minister of State for Railways. However, even
he was informed that there was no provision to employ near
relative on compassionate ground and accordingly the
competent officer had rejected her representation. The v

appellants, therefore, filed an original application before the iii-
D Central Administrative Tribunal, Patna Bench, Patna ~·

(hereinafter called 'the Tribunal'). It was pointed out that there
was a communication by the Railway Boara bearing No. E(NG)
'1 ....
11/88-.RC-1/1 d~ted 12.02.1990 which provided that if an
er:nployee dies in harness leaving a widow without children, the
E appointment of a near relative could be considered in case of
hardship and on merits of each case. Relying on this circular
the claim of the appellants was pressed. It was pointed that this
~
circular was not considered by the authorities. It was then
pointed out that the further circular dated 16.05.1991 referred '(
~
F -to earlier in this judgment was also not considered. It was
claimed that the subsequent order of the Railway Board dated
13.12.1995 holding the provision of appointment of near
relative on compassionate ground was not applicable to the
present case as it was not retrospective in effect. In short, it
G was claimed that since the husband of appellant No.1 died on
03.12.1995 during the previous order of the Railway Board -+ ...
when appointment of a near relative was permitted there was _.,
t
no reason to deny the appointment in favour of the second
appellant. The respondent Railways pointed out that the
decision to delete the provision of appointment of a near
H
MAHARANI DEVI & ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 533
,,...... [V.S. SIRPURKAR, J.]

relative which was taken on 13.12.1995 was based on the basis A
of Office Memorandum of the Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions (Department of Personnel and
Training) dated 09.12.1993 and, therefore, the subsequent
I death of the husband of appellant No.1 on 03.12.1995 was of ,
'
no consequence. It was further pointed out that the Department B
•.,di of Personnel Training, Government of India was the nodal
~ Department and all the matters relating to Government service
were to be implemented through the same agency. Reliance
was also put on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Auditor
General of India v. G. Ananta Rajeswara Rao 1994 ( 1 ) SCC c
192 and, therefore, the appellant was not entitled to any relief.

·- 5. The Tribunal took the view that whatever be the case,
the respondent had not passed a speaking order nor had it
considered the merits of the matter. The Tribunal, therefore,
"t'. directed the respondents to re-consider the representation and · D
the aspect of dependency of the appellant No. 1 on appellant
No.2. They were further directed to consider the relevancy of
the· order of the Railway Board dated 13.12.1995 as the
deceased employee had died in harness prior to the date. of
issue of that order of the Railway Board and further whether the E
order could be applied retrospectively. Time limit of four months
.. was also set up by the Tribunal for disposal of the
~ representation. However, on 12.08.2002 the respondent again
rejected the claim of the petitioner. This time in their order the
respondents pointed that the appellant No.1 had received the F
family pension of Rs. 1,04,658/- on account of death of her '
husband. It was held that the provision of extending the
compassionate appointment was only to help the family left
behind by the employee and further there was no provision for ,
,J. +.- ·compassionate appointment to the near relative under the order G

- dated 13.12. 1995. It was reiterated that in view of the
handsome amount that she had received after the death of her
husband the appellant No.1 was not entitled for the appointment '
of the second appellant. The appellants again approached the
.. Tribunal, Patna. Two questions were formulated by the Tribunal. H
.
l.1__
,.

534 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 9 S.C.R.

A They were:- whether the request of the appellant No. 1 for
appointment of appellant No.2 was required to be considered .
on the basis of the Notification dated 16.05.1991 or in the light
of the order dated -13.12.1995 the second question was as to
whether the respondent authorities were right in rejecting the
B request of the appellant on the ground that the appellant No.1
had received over a lakh rupees as service dues of the
deceased husband and she was also getting reasonable
pension and whether it can be said that she was not suffering
+
from financial or other hardship.
c 6. On the first question, the Tribunal took the view that
provision of compassionate appointment was a mere social
welfare measure and the object of the same was not simply to
give employment to a near relative. On this question, the Tribunal
..
.,.'
.
considered the Full Bench decision of Patna High Court in
D Project Uccha Vidyalaya Shikshak Sangh v. State reported
in 2001 (1) PLJR 287. The Tribunal held that the decision did
not apply to the facts of the case of the appellants. The Tribunal,
however, expressed that the Office Circular on which the
appellant had relied and which was in force on the date of death
E of Kailash Singh was not available at the time of submission
of application on which date the amended circular was in force.
The Tribunal did not accept the case that the first representation
was made on 05.12.1995. The Tribunal treated the second
representation dated 29.02.1996 to be the first representation
F and further came to hold that since on that date the amended
circular dated 13.12.1995 was in force only the amended
Circular would be applicable to the facts of the case and as
such the appellants would not be entitled to any relief. In short,
the Tribunal held that the relevant date would not be the date
G of the death of the employee but the date on which the
representation was made.

7. On the first question, therefore, the Tribunal found the
case against the appellants. On the second question, however,
.the Tribunal relying on Pankaj Kumar V. Union of India decided
H
,~
MAHARANI DEVI & ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 535
[V.S: SIRPURKAR, J.)
on 24.08.2000 held that the employment on compassionate A
grounds could not be denied on the ground of financial service

- benefits received by the widow and children of the deceased
. Government were sufficient to meet their needs. In support of
this proposition, the Tribunal relied on the decision of Balbir
,,;,;
Kaur & Ors. v. Steel Authority of India AIR 2000 SC 19.06. B
.~
8. The appellants filed a writ petition before the Patna High
Court. However, the same came to be dismissed in limine and
thaf is how the appellants are before us in this appeal.

9. On the basis of the contentions raised by the learned c
counsel for the appellants and the learned senior counsel Shri
Harish Chandra appearing on behalf of the respondent which
falls for our consideration is as to which is the relevant dated
·'""! for deciding the claim of the appellants whether· it is the date
T ·on which the husband of the appellant. No.1 died i.e, D
03.12.1995 or whether it is the date on which the representation
• was made i.e. 22.12.1995 when the amended Circular was
enforced depriving any relative from getting any appointment
on compassionate ground.
E
10. It was urged that the Tribunal was not right in holding
:,#
that the first representation was not made on 05.12.1995 but
\( was made later on 29.02.1996. We will not go into that question
since. it amounts to a question of fact. However, the basic
· question still remains as to whi.ch is the relevant date as to the
right for being co.nsidered for compassionate .. appointment ·F
accrues on the date of the death of the concerned employee
or it is to be considered on the .date when the application for
compassionate appointment is made .
~ ...
11. We do not find any discussion about this in the High G
Court order and indeed there could not have been none since
the writ petition was dismissed in limine.

12. The learned counsel for the appellants relied on the
judgment of this Court reported in Chairman Railway Board &
H
1-

;.'
536 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 9 S.C.R.
}-~ t
A Ors. v. C.R. Rangadhamaiah & Ors. 1997 (6) SCC 623 which
is a Constitution Bench decision. This was a case wherein the i
validity of the same Notification issued by the Railways under '
Article 309 amending Rule 2544 of Indian Railway F
Establishment Board with retrospective effect was under
B consideration. By that amendment the pension conditions of the
I

employees who had already retired on the date of Notification
1
"""-' I

was adversely affected. The Court held that in the
circumstances, the rules could not have been amended
',
retrospectively affecting the rights of the employees. The Court,
c however, held that on the date when the said retrospective '
)

amendments were introduced Article 19(1)(f) and Article 31(1) }-·

were available in the Constitution of India. The Court held that,
therefore, the right of property of the petitioner was breached
by the impugned retrospective circulars. Further in cutting down
l;
l-·
the pension by bringing in the amendments to the provisions
D '-"!
retrospectively would be invalid, breaching Articles 14 and 16.
J:_
Relying heavily on this judgment the learned counsel suggests
):-
that at least in the aforementioned case, the amendments were
t
retrospective while in the present case they were not
retrospective and, therefore, the amended Circular dated '
E 13.12.1995 would not be applicable. The further argument is
that under any circumstance the right for being considered for "' J
compassionate appointment had accrued on the date of death y
of the employee that being the only relevant date. According
to the learned counsel the date on which the representation was
F made was irrelevant.
13. As against this the learned senior counsel Shri Harish
Chandra urged that the most relevant date would only be when
the representatiofl was made because the Railway Board had ~-
to consider as to whether the appellants were indigent on the '""'
G
date when the application was made. .....

\:-
14. On this crucial question, however, there is the High
Court has not expressed any opinion. It has merely approved 'i
'
of the judgment of the Tribunal. Learned senior counsel in
H '
MAHARANI DEVI & ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 537
-----\ [V.S. SIRPURKAR, J.]
support of his argument relied on the judgment in State Bank A
of India & Ors. v. Jaspal Kaur reported in 2007 (9) SCC 571.
However, we do not find any similarity in the situation appearing
in this case and the cne decided by this Court. The reported
decision only considered the question as to which scheme
pertaining to compassionate appointment should be preferred 6
• whether it should be the scheme prevailing at the time when
+ the application for compassionate appointment was filed or the
one which was available on the date of decision of the Court.

15. Such question is not for our consideration in the present
matter. That decision is, therefore, of no use for learned counsel
c
for the respondents. However, in our view the question posed
by us as to what would be the relevant date for consideration,
whether it would be the date of death of employee or whether
"' it would be the date of making the representation? That has
't' not been considered by the High Court. We, therefore, remand D
this matter to the High Court with a request to the High Court
to decide the same. We request the High Court to dispose of
the matter within six months of the writ reaching the High Court
as the matter pertains to the rights of a poor widow. The appeal
is allowed in the terms stated by us with no orders as to the E
costs. "
"'
'i N.J. Appeal allowed.