N.C. Santhosh v. The State of Karnataka
Background
The appellants had been given compassionate appointments as dependants of deceased Karnataka government employees, but applied for those posts only after turning 18, more than a year after the employee's death, under a since-amended version of Rule 5 of the Karnataka Civil Services (Appointment on Compassionate Grounds) Rules, 1996. When it was discovered that their applications did not meet the amended rule's one-year-from-death deadline, their appointments were cancelled. The Karnataka Administrative Tribunal and the High Court of Karnataka both upheld the cancellations, prompting these appeals to the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Court held that eligibility for compassionate appointment must be judged by the rules in force at the time the application is actually considered, not the (more lenient) rules in force on the date of the employee's death. Since the amended Rule 5 required a minor dependant to apply within one year of the death itself, and the appellants had applied years later after attaining majority, their appointments were rightly found invalid. The Court reiterated that compassionate appointment is a concession, not a vested right, and distinguished a conflicting line of authority (Canara Bank v. M. Mahesh Kumar), noting that conflict had separately been referred to a larger bench. The appeals were dismissed.
Lesson Learnt
Compassionate appointment is an exception to normal recruitment rules, not an entitlement: dependants of deceased government employees must apply within the time limits prescribed by the rules actually in force when their case is considered, not rely on older, more generous provisions.