CUTTACK: A married daughter cannot be barred from a job meant to be provided on compassionate grounds, Orissa high court has ruled, junking as "discriminatory" a state circular that kept women out of such employment over her marital status.
A single-judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi ordered Seemarani Pandab to be considered afresh for the job in place of her father who had died while serving as a physical education teacher (PET) in a Bhadrak govt school.
Justice SK Panigrahi also directed Odisha authorities to consider Pandab's application from the day it was first made in 2013 and not let her current age be an inhibiting factor. Pandab was denied the job citing 2010 govt circular which prohibited married daughters from getting benefits of compassionate recruitment.
"A policy of disqualifying a married daughter and excluding her from consideration, apart from being arbitrary and discriminating, is a retrograde step of state govt as welfare state, on which stamp of approval cannot be given by this court," Justice Panigrahi said in his Feb 27 judgment.
The judge maintained that the yardstick for compassionate appointment should be the dependency of dependants on the deceased govt servant, and marital status should not be an impediment.
Justice Panigrahi specified that such a bar was "plainly arbitrary and violative of constitutional guarantees, as envisaged in Articles 14, 15, and 16(2) of the Constitution", which pertain to equality and equal opportunity.
"Since about 11 years have passed and many years have been spent in litigation, in the interest of justice and fair play, the age of the petitioner shall not be a factor in considering her for a suitable job," HC said.
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