The Madhya Pradesh High Court has overturned a decision by Union Bank of India rejecting a compassionate appointment request, terming the denial arbitrary and legally unsustainable. The case involved a petitioner who sought employment after the death of his father, a bank employee who passed away while in service in 2016.
The bank had rejected the request in 2018, citing the deceased employee’s alleged unsatisfactory service record. The court found that this ground was not part of the applicable policy governing compassionate appointments.
Hearing the matter, Justice Jai Kumar Pillai noted that such schemes are intended to provide immediate financial relief to families facing sudden hardship. The court observed that introducing reasons not specified in the policy defeats the purpose of the scheme and places undue burden on dependents already in distress.
The court also highlighted that the petitioner’s application had been delayed for years before being rejected on vague grounds. It noted that authorities failed to justify how the service record of the deceased employee could be used as a basis for denial, especially when no such provision exists in the scheme.
In its order dated 24 April, the court directed the bank to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the petitioner for the hardship caused due to the delay and rejection. It also criticised the approach of the authorities, pointing to a lack of reasoned decision-making.
The petitioner had approached the court under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking to quash the rejection order and secure employment under the compassionate appointment policy.
The ruling reinforces the principle that such appointments must be handled strictly within policy guidelines and processed without delay, given their role in supporting families facing financial crisis after the loss of a primary earning member.
