A bench of justices Aftab Alam and R M Lodha quashed a direction of the Madras High Court which directed appointment of M Selvanayagam in Karaikal Municipality, five years after the death of his father Meenakshisundaram, a watchman.
"An appointment made many years after the death of the employee or without due consideration of the financial resources available to his/her dependents and the financial deprivation caused to the dependents as a result of his death, simply because the claimant happened to be one of the dependents of the deceased employee would be directly in conflict with Articles 14 & 16(equality) of the Constitution and hence, is quite bad and illegal.
"In dealing with cases of compassionate appointment, it is imperative to keep this vital aspect in mind," the bench said.