Daughter-In-Law Can’t Abandon Her Old Aged In-Laws After Having Secured Compassionate Appointment: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court was considering a petition filed by the in-laws of a woman who was not maintaining them after being granted compassionate appointment.
Justice Anand Sharma, Rajasthan High Court
While granting relief to the parents of a deceased employee of Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, the Rajasthan High Court has held that the daughter-in-law, having secured compassionate appointment after the death of her husband, cannot abandon her old-aged in-laws.
The High Court was considering a petition filed by the in-laws of a woman who was not maintaining them after being granted compassionate appointment after her husband’s death.
The Single Bench of Justice Anand Sharma held, “Her subsequent departure from the matrimonial home and remarriage, coupled with the admitted failure to maintain the petitioners, is nothing but apparent violation of fundamental spirit of scheme of compassionate appointment. It cannot be countenanced that, after the death of her husband, the daughter in law, having secured compassionate appointment in his place, may thereafter abandon her old aged in-laws and leave them at the mercy of destiny.”
Advocate Ramit Pareek represented the Petitioner while Advocate Vidhut Kumar Gupta represented the Respondent.
Factual Background
It was the case of the petitioners that their son, who was married to the third respondent and was serving as a Technical Helper in respondent-Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, expired in 2017. It was their grievance that their daughter-in-law had not been maintaining them after compassionate appointment was granted in her favour. The petitioners claimed that she also remarried some other person after securing such appointment.
Reasoning
The Bench, at the outset, stated that the scheme of compassionate appointment is intended to grant financial assistance to the family so that they can tide over the crisis, which arose on account of the sudden death of a sole bread earner in the family. “The family does not only include only widow of deceased, but also includes his parents and other family members as prescribed under the Rules”, it added.
On a perusal of the facts of the case, the Bench found that while making application for compassionate appointment, the respondent wife had submitted an undertaking in the form of affidavit that she would also maintain the other family members. The Bench also noticed that the conduct of the respondent wife showed that after getting appointment, she had left the petitioners to face financial crisis and had also remarried some other person.
The Bench thus stated, “ Having availed the benefit of compassionate appointment after giving aforesaid undertaking, she cannot completely disassociate herself from the obligation, which formed the very basis of the compassionate appointment.”
With such findings, the Bench allowed the petition and directed the Respondent Corporation to deduct 25% of the regular monthly salary of the respondent daughter-in-law and to credit the same directly in the bank account of the mother-in-law. “The aforesaid arrangement shall continue so long as the petitioner No.2 survives”, it ordered.
Cause Title: Shri Choth Mal Verma v. Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (Neutral Citation: 2026:RJ-JP:37767)
Appearance
Petitioner: Advocates Ramit Pareek, Ujala Pareek, Kartik Sharma
Respondent: Advocates Vidhut Kumar Gupta, Abhishek Sharma, Rohit Thakar