‘Compassionate job’ only if qualified: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN 

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that a candidate must satisfy minimum eligibility criteria even for compassionate employment, thus, denying a peon’s job to the son of a police assistant sub-inspector (ASI), who died in harness. 
    “A person who does not possess the requisite qualification cannot even apply for recruitment for the reason that his appointment would be contrary to the statutory rules and would, therefore, be void in law,” said a bench of Justices B S Chauhan and F M I Kalifulla while allowing an appeal by Gujarat government. 
    Arvind Kumar Tiwari’s father was an ASI in Gujarat police. After he died in 1999, Tiwari applied for employment on compassionate grounds for the post of a peon. As he had studied up to Class 8, his application was rejected, but on the grounds that his family was not in any financial distress. 
    However, Tiwari made a second application to the additional DGP, who ordered that the same be considered ignoring the financial condition of the family. It was again rejected in 2005 when it was found that the applicant had only passed Class 7 as against the minimum eligibility criteria of Class X needed for appointment to a peon’s post. 
    But the Gujarat HC asked the department to consider Tiwari’s appointment on compassionate grounds. 
    The state appealed against the order in the SC. The SC bench of Justices Chauhan and Kalifulla said, “Compassionate appointment cannot be claimed as a matter of right. It is simply not another method of recruitment.”

Source:::: The Times of India, 19-09-2012,  p.16.  http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW