The child born from the second wife of the deceased employee is eligible for compassionate appointment. -SUPREME Court

The Supreme Court said that a child born from the second wife of a deceased employee is eligible for compassionate appointment as any policy based on law should not discriminate on grounds including race.

The Supreme Court held that a child born from the second wife of a deceased employee is eligible for compassionate appointment as there should be no law-based policy to discriminate on grounds including race. Simultaneously,a bench of Justice U U Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice P S Narsimha set aside the order of the Patna High court.

According to the matter, Jagdish Harijan was an employee of the Railway and had two wives. Gayatri Devi was his first wife and Konika Devi was his second wife. Petitioner Mukesh Kumar is a son born from the second wife. Jagdish died while in service on 24 February 2014. The first wife of the deceased made an application on May 17,2014, demanding appointment on compassionate grounds under the scheme to Mukesh Kumar, the son born to the second wife. Railway Authorities rejected the application on 24 June 2014. Railway Authority said that Mukesh Kumar being a son born from the second wife is not entitled to compassionate appointment.

The Supreme Court said that the compassionate appointment of Mukesh Kumar can not be ruled out merely because he is the son of the second wife. The matter is directed to be considered as per the extant policy of the Railway. The officers shall have the right to examine whether the application for compassionate appointment satisfies all other requirements as per law. The process of Considering the application will be completed within a period of three months from the order.