Patna High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.20713 of 2012 ====================================================== 1. Anand Kumar S/O Late Rajnandan Prasad R/O Village- Dhenuki, P.O.- Marhawrah, District- Saran (Chapra) 2. Shanti Prasad W/O Late Rajnandan Prasad R/O Village- Dhenuki, P.O.- Marhawrah, District- Saran (Chapra) Versus .... .... Petitioners 1. The State Of Bihar 2. The Secretary Human Resources Department, Govt. Of Bihar, Patna 3. The District Magistrate, Saran, Chapra 4. The Deputy Collector, Establishment, Saran 5. District Education Officer, Saran .... .... Respondents ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Suraj Prasad Singh, Adv. For the Respondent/s : Mr. Yogendra Prasad Sinha, AAG-15 ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MIHIR KUMAR JHA ORAL ORDER 2 24-10-2013
Facts
Heard learned counsel for the parties as with regard to the following relief:- the respondents to "for commanding consider the case of appointment of petitioner No. 1 on compassionate ground on account of death of his father who died while in active service." Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the father of the petitioner no. 1(Anand Kumar) and the husband of the petitioner no. 2(Shanti Prasad) late Rajnandan Prasad working on the post of assistant teacher in Kanya Madhya Vidyalaya, Marhowrah Khurd had died in harness on 27.07.2008 but the application filed by the petitioner no. 1 for appointment on compassionate ground has not yet been considered and at least no Patna High Court CWJC No.20713 of 2012 (2) dt.24-10-2013 2 final decision has been taken and communicated to the petitioner. Learned counsel for the State on the other hand has submitted that from perusal of the writ application it would be clear that the older brother of petitioner no. 1 namely, Purushotam Kumar who is the son of the deceased employee and the petitioner no. 2, is already employed in Government service and as such petitioner no. 1 would not be entitled for appointment on compassionate ground. In this regard he has referred to the Division Bench Judgment of this Court in the case of Vishal Kumar vs the State of Bihar and Ors, reported in 2004(2) PLJR 453. In the considered opinion of this Court since the father of the petitioner no. 1 and the husband of petitioner no. 2 was a teacher, who had died on 27.07.2008 in harness, a consideration was required to be made on the application filed by the petitioner no. 1 seeking compassionate appointment, wherein, all the relevant aspects including the one relating to employment of Purushotam Kumar in Government service had to be taken into
Legal Reasoning
consideration. It is true that the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Vishal Kumar (supra) has laid down the law in the following terms:- "Upon the death of his father the appellant applied for job as a compassionate appointment. The claim was rejected on 21.05.2003 by the District Patna High Court CWJC No.20713 of 2012 (2) dt.24-10-2013 3 Compassionate Committee of which the collector is the Chairman. The matter relates to seeking a job in the Rural Engineering Organisation Department. The job was denied by the Committee on the ground that the elder brother of the appellant had been gainfully employed in the State Bank of India. The contention of the appellant is to the effect that his brother and father were separate and evidence was offered, to the effect, that this was so. The Court is afraid, this logic of law will not apply for if there will be rivalry within the family as in the present case between the father and the son or between siblings, a job can be offered on the principle of compassionate appointment only to one person and when one is gainfully employed, there is no obligation to offer a job in an otherwise backdoor entry employment. An order has been cited in the case of Bharat Prasad vs State of Bihar, and other reported in 1998 (1) PLJR 125. From paragraph 4 of the order, it is clear that the learned judge has clearly mentioned that he is not deciding the validity of any guideline and merely permitted filing of a representation. This case does not apply to the circumstances of the case under consideration." Nonetheless, if the petitioner has filed his application the same was required to be considered in terms of Government resolution dated 05.10.1991 and in terms of Rule-10 of the Bihar Panchayat Primary Teacher (Employment and Service Condition) Rule-2006, relevant portion whereof reads as follows:- ^^vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij fu;kstu& f'k{kd@f'k{kdsRrj dfeZ;ksa ds vkfJrksa dh vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij fu/kkZfjr ;ksX;rk ds vuq:i iapk;r f'k{kd@iz[k.M f'k{kd ds in ij miyC/k fjfDr;ksa ds fo:n~/k fu;kstu fd;k tk ldsxkA ;fn os Li"V :i ls blds fy, viuh lgefr nsrs gSa fu;kstu ljdkj ds dkfeZd foHkkx }kjk vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij Patna High Court CWJC No.20713 of 2012 (2) dt.24-10-2013 4 fu;qfDr laca/kh fu/kkZfjr vU; 'krksZa ds vkyksd es mijksDr lfefr;ksa }kjk fd;k tk ldsxkA vizf'kf{kr vkfJrksa dks fu;kstu ds ckn mUgsa vf/kdre 6 o"kksaZ ds vUnj izf'k{k.k izkIr dj ysuk vfuok;Z gksxkA** It has to be also kept in mind that in the amended Bihar Panchayat Primary Teacher(Employment and Service condition) Rule-2012, under Rule-13 the same provision has been reiterated in the following directions:- ^^vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij fu;kstu& izkjafHkd fo|ky; esa iwoZ esa fu;qDr f'k{kd vFkok o"kZ 2006 ,oa bl fu;ekoyh ds vkyksd esa fu;ksftr gksus okys f'k{kdksa dh lsokdky es s e`R;q gksus ij muds ;ksX;rk/kkjh vkfJrksa dks vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij iapk;r f'k{kd@iz[k.M f'k{kd ds csfld xszM ds in ij miyc/k fjfDr;ksa ds fo:n~/k fu;kstu fd;k tk ldsxk ;fn os blds fy, viuh lgefr nsrs gSa fu;kstu ljdkj ds lkekU; iz'kklu foHkkx }kjk vuqdEik ds vk/kkj ij fu;qfDr laca/kh fuxZr fn'kk funsZ'kksa rFkk fu/kkZfjr vU; 'kRrksZa ds vkyksd esa fu;kstu lfefr;ksa }kjk fd;k tk ldsxkA vizf'kf{kr vkfJrksa dk fu;kstu rHkh rd fd;k tk ldsxk tc rd Hkkjr ljdkj ls vizf'kf{krksa ds fu;kstu dh NwV feyh gksA vuqns'kdksa ds vkfJrksa dk vuqdEik ij fu;kstu dk ykHk ns; ugha gksxkA** Thus even if there is evidence to show that the elder brother of the petitioner no. 1 is in Government Service the District Education Officer, Saran, respondent no. 5, would be under an obligation to call for the records from the office of the District Programme Officer (establishment), Saran and take a decision as with regard to the claim of compassionate appointment of the petitioner no. 1 in the light of the fact that in the family Patna High Court CWJC No.20713 of 2012 (2) dt.24-10-2013 5 membership certificate contained in Annexure-1 to the writ application dated 25.08.2008, Anchal Adhikari, Marhowrah has recorded that in all there were five family members including the widow Shanti Prasad and the two daughters namely, Subandana Kumari and Bandana Kumari followed by two sons namely, Purushotam Kumar and Anand Kumar. The District Education Officer, Saran will also examine the amount of death cum retirement benefit as well as family pension which has been made available to the widow Shanti Prasad and take a final decision as with regard to the claim of the petitioner after considering the law laid down by the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Vishal Kumar (supra). Such decision however must be taken and communicated by the District Education Officer, Saran to the petitioner no. 1 expeditiously preferably within a period of six months from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order. With the aforementioned observation and direction, this
Decision
application is disposed of. Rishi/ranjan (Mihir Kumar Jha, J)