Compassionate Appointment Cannot Be Claimed After 14 Years as a Hereditary Right or Alternate Mode of Recruitment: Punjab & Haryana High Court

Case Name: Jaipal Singh Brar v. State of Punjab and Others

Date of Judgment: 19 May 2026

Citation: CWP-6741 of 2022

Bench: Justice Namit Kumar

Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that compassionate appointment cannot be claimed after an inordinate delay as it is intended only to provide immediate financial relief to the family of a deceased employee. The Court reiterated that compassionate appointment is neither a hereditary right nor an alternate source of public employment and dismissed the petition seeking appointment nearly 14 years after the death of the employee.

Summary: The petitioner sought appointment on compassionate grounds following the death of his mother, who was working as a Librarian in Government Senior Secondary School, Kotakpura and died in harness on 08.10.2012. The petitioner prayed for appointment in the Department of Education (Schools) from the date of his application dated 20.10.2019 along with consequential benefits.

Initially, the petitioner’s sister had applied for compassionate appointment as a Nurse soon after the death of their mother. However, her request was declined because the post of Nurse fell under Group ‘B’ whereas the deceased employee held a Group ‘C’ post. Thereafter, she sought appointment as Senior Laboratory Attendant in the School Education Department. During pendency of the said request, she secured appointment as Staff Nurse through direct recruitment in the Health Department in 2016 and her claim for compassionate appointment became infructuous.

The petitioner contended that after his sister’s appointment, his father suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2017, owing to which he remained occupied in taking care of him. Subsequently, he submitted an application on 20.10.2019 seeking compassionate appointment as Clerk. Despite a no-objection declaration from his sister and forwarding of his case by departmental authorities, his claim was rejected by the Government.

The State opposed the petition contending that compassionate appointment is an exception to the normal recruitment process and is meant only to provide immediate succour to the family of the deceased employee facing sudden financial distress. It was argued that the petitioner’s application was hopelessly delayed since it was submitted almost seven years after the death of the employee and beyond the permissible time under the Government instructions.

The Court examined the Punjab Government policy dated 21.11.2002 governing compassionate appointments, which required applications to be submitted within six months from the date of death, later extended to one year. Even belated requests could only be entertained within five years with special approval of the Personnel and Finance Departments.

Relying upon several decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court including The Chief Commissioner, Central Excise and Customs, Lucknow v. Prabhat Singh, Jagdish Prasad v. State of Bihar and State of West Bengal v. Debabrata Tiwari, the Court reiterated that compassionate appointment cannot be treated as a vested right exercisable at any future point of time. The Court observed that the very object of compassionate appointment is to relieve immediate hardship caused by the sudden death of the breadwinner and once the family survives for a considerable period, the basis of such claim ceases to exist.

The Court further held that entertaining such delayed claims would convert compassionate appointment into a hereditary mode of public employment contrary to Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. It observed that the family having survived for several years after the death of the employee indicated absence of immediate financial penury warranting compassionate appointment.

Decision: The High Court dismissed the writ petition holding that the petitioner was not entitled to compassionate appointment after approximately 14 years from the death of his mother. The Court held that compassionate appointment is not an alternate source of recruitment nor a vested right capable of being exercised after a prolonged delay.