Daughter-in-law entitled to compassionate appointment, Rajasthan High Court reiterates; 30-day deadline set

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has reiterated that a daughter-in-law is entitled to compassionate appointment on the same footing as a daughter, and has directed the respondent department to issue the appointment within 30 days. Justice Ravi Chiraniya passed the order on April 9 while deciding a petition filed by Sundari Devi.

Expressing displeasure with the department, the court observed that it was astonished to find the very same objections earlier rejected by a Division Bench of the High Court in 2023 being raised again in the reply to the present petition. The judge held that such objections, once settled by the superior bench, were not legally tenable.

According to advocate RC Gautam, who appeared for the petitioner, Sundari Devi had sought compassionate appointment in place of her father-in-law following his death. Her husband — the deceased’s son — had earlier sustained injuries in an accident and was entirely bedridden, which is why she applied in his stead. The department, however, declined to act on the application.

The court noted that Sundari Devi’s husband subsequently died on May 25, 2020, and that all the family’s dependents were now reliant on her alone.

Directing that the appointment be granted within 30 days, the court said it expected the respondents to refrain from raising further technical objections and to provide the compassionate posting without even a day’s unnecessary delay. Any such delay, the bench warned, would invite suo motu contempt proceedings against the officers responsible.

The court has also called for a compliance report within 45 days.