If the spouse of a deceased government employee has died before him and left him childless, there is no reason to deny compassionate appointment to his brother. This ruling came from the Karnataka High Court following a petition filed by the mother and brother of a deceased employee of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).
According to the Karnataka High Court, since the wife of the said employee had predeceased him and there are no children in the picture, the mere fact that the deceased employee was married is not enough to reject an application from the brother seeking compassionate appointment.
This was stated by Justice Suraj Govindaraj following a petition filed by Mantava and Sanganna Lolasar, mother and brother of a KSRTC driver, Veeresh Lolasar. Sunanda, wife of Veeresh Lolasar had died in April 2022, while Veeresh himself had passed on a year later, while still in service, in September of 2023. Since the couple had no children, the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court has directed KSRTC to consider the application filed by Sanganna, the brother of Veeresh seeking appointment on compassionate grounds.
It was KSRTC’s argument that the policy was that compassionate appointment could be provided only to the spouse or children in case of a married employee’s death. Justice Suraj Govindaraj pointed out that the very purpose of compassionate appointment was to ensure that the dependents of the deceased employee are taken care of financially.
In this case, the mother and brother were being taken care of by the deceased employee who had lost his wife earlier.
Therefore, as per the court’s orders, KSRTC will have to consider appointing Sanganna Lolasar to a post that suits his qualifications, within 12 weeks.