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Indian Bank & Ors. v. Promila & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 13Decided 8 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2798 of 2010
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul · Justice K.M. Joseph

Background

A bank clerk died in service in 2004, and his widow and minor son received death benefits including full gratuity. The son later sought compassionate appointment, but by the time his claim was processed, the bank had introduced new, stricter schemes with income-based eligibility caps. The High Court had awarded the family Rs. 2 lakh as an ex-gratia payment out of sympathy, applying a scheme that did not exist on the date of the employee's death. The bank appealed this award to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that only the compassionate-appointment scheme in force on the date of the employee's death (1979, continued in 1985) could apply, not later schemes introduced after the death, following its own precedent in Canara Bank v. M. Mahesh Kumar. Under that applicable scheme, a family had to choose between full gratuity or compassionate appointment, and since the family had already taken full gratuity, they were not entitled to compassionate appointment or any ex-gratia payment. The Court also noted the widow had concealed her own employment and income, which independently would have disqualified the family even under the later schemes. The High Court's sympathy-based award was set aside, and the Tribunal's order dismissing the family's writ petition was restored.

Lesson Learnt

Compassionate appointment is not a matter of right or an alternative route to public employment: it is governed strictly by the scheme in force at the time of the employee's death, and choosing to receive full gratuity benefits can forfeit the option of compassionate appointment.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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