Court emphasizes moral and legal obligations of compassionate appointment beneficiaries, orders 25% salary deduction and equal division of terminal benefits in landmark judgment
In a significant judgment delivered on September 17, 2026, the Rajasthan High Court (Jaipur Bench) underscored the fiduciary responsibility attached to compassionate appointments granted to family members of deceased employees. The court ruled that the widow of a deceased government servant, who had secured a compassionate appointment on the condition of maintaining other dependent family members, cannot shirk this obligation, especially after remarriage and leaving the family home.
The case arose when Shri Choth Mal Verma and another petitioner approached the court against the widow of their deceased son, Shri Subhash Chand Verma, who was an employee of the Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited. After the son's untimely demise in March 2017, the widow was granted a compassionate appointment as a Lower Division Clerk (LDC) based on her affidavit undertaking to maintain not only herself but also her in-laws. However, she subsequently abandoned the matrimonial home, remarried, and failed to provide any financial support to her late husband's aged parents, who were left struggling for survival.
The petitioners contended that although the widow was employed, she neglected her obligation, and the respondent corporation had not taken steps to ensure support for the surviving parents. The widow's counsel argued that she was mistreated by the in-laws and that the other sons of the deceased were capable of maintaining them. Nonetheless, the court found the widow's conduct to be in clear violation of the compassionate appointment scheme's fundamental purpose.
Drawing on the precedent set by a co-ordinate bench in Bhagwan Singh v. Suptd Engineer Pawas, Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 364), the court reiterated that compassionate appointments are welfare measures intended to alleviate the financial hardship of the entire family of the deceased employee, not merely a personal entitlement. The court emphasized that when granted, the appointment is in a representative capacity and carries a corresponding moral and legal obligation to safeguard and maintain other surviving dependents.
Consequently, the court directed the Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited to deduct 25% of the widow's monthly salary and credit it directly to the bank account of the surviving mother of the deceased employee. This arrangement is to continue as long as the mother survives. Furthermore, the court ordered the corporation to release the terminal benefits of the deceased employee within 30 days and to divide the amount equally between the widow and the surviving mother, with the mother's share credited directly to her bank account.
This ruling sends a strong message that beneficiaries of compassionate appointments cannot evade their responsibilities towards other dependents by personal choices such as remarriage or leaving the family home. It reinforces that the compassionate appointment scheme is rooted in a humanitarian objective to support the entire dependent family unit.
Bottom Line:
Compassionate appointment is granted for the benefit of the family of the deceased employee and carries an obligation on the appointee to maintain other dependent family members; where widow obtained compassionate appointment on undertaking to maintain in-laws but later remarried and neglected mother-in-law, Court directed deduction of 25% salary for surviving mother and equal division of terminal benefits.
Statutory provision(s):
Rajasthan Compassionate Appointment of Dependents of Deceased Government Servants Rules, 1996
