Court No. - 36
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 18137 of 2021 Petitioner :- Akhilesh Kumar Maurya And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U P And 5 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Aravind Kumar Tripathi,Devendra Kumar Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Saral Srivastava,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents.
Petitioner by means of present writ petition has prayed for following relief:
"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to consider the candidature of the petitioner no.1 and appoint him on compassionate grounds on the death of his elder brother namely Brijesh Kumar Maurya during the discharge of his duty during Covid-19 period."
Late Brijesh Kumar Maurya was assigned Panchayat Election duty and he died due to Covid-19 on 05.11.2021 while discharging his duty. The petitioner no.1 Akhilesh Kumar Maurya is the brother of the deceased and petitioner no.2 and 3 are mother and father of the deceased Brijesh Kumar Maurya, who was Assistant Teacher in Srirajmata Vaishni Judev Inter College, Jagammanpur, Jalaun.
According to the petitioner, they were dependent upon the income of late Brijesh Kumar Maurya and they did not objection to the release of terminal dues of late Brijesh Kumar Maurya to the widow of deceased, but the employment under The Uttar Pradesh Recruitment of Dependents of Government Servants Dying-In-Harness Rules, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as 'Rules, 1974') be given to the brother of the deceased.
It is submitted that the terminal dues of late Brijesh Kumar Maurya have been released in favour of respondent no.6-Smt. Savita Devi and accordingly, the direction may be issued to respondent no.4-District Inspector of Schools, District Jalaun to consider the claim of petitioner no.1-Akhilesh Kumar Maurya, brother of the deceased for compassionate appointment.
Rule 2(c) of the Rules, 1974 defines family which includes besides the wife of the deceased employee, unmarried brother, father and mother also. So far as grant of compassionate appointment is concerned, it is to be given as per preference of heirs categorised in Section 8 (a) of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 which states that the property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve firstly upon the heirs being the relatives specified in Clause 1 of the Schedule. The brother is not specified in Clause 1 of the Schedule of The Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
At this stage, it is also relevant to reproduce the definition of family mentioned in Rules 2(c) of the Rules, 1974.
"Family" shall include the following relations of the deceased Government servant:
(i) Wife of husband;
(ii) Sons/ adopted sons;
(iii) Unmarried daughters, unmarried adopted daughters, widowed daughters and widowed daughter-in-law;
(iv) Unmarried brothers, unmarried sisters and widowed mother dependent on the deceased Government servant, if the deceased Government servant was unmarried;
(v) aforementioned relations of such missing Government servant who has been declared as "dead" by the competent Court;"
The perusal of the definition of family reveals that under category defined in the definition of family, wife or husband of the deceased is placed at (i) which means that wife or husband of the deceased will have preference over the appointment on compassionate ground, and if for any reason they are not eligible to get the appointment, the same shall be given preference wise to the dependents of the deceased as mentioned in Clause 2(c) of the Rules, 1974.
In such view of fact, the petitioners' claim cannot be considered so long as the respondent no.6-Savita Devi, widow of deceased is alive and is eligible for appointment.
In view of above, the writ petition lacks merit and is accordingly, dismissed with no order as to cost.
Order Date :- 20.12.2021 Mohit Digitally signed by MOHIT KUMAR KUSHWAHA Date: 2022.02.14 10:09:40 IST Reason:
Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad