According to the Supreme Court, it is against Articles 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution to appoint employees’ heirs upon retirement or superannuation.
An Industrial Court ordered the Ahmednagar Mahanagar Palika to designate the employees’ heirs upon their retirement and/or superannuation in this instance.
The directive was based on a settlement agreement between the Employees Union and the Mahanagar Palika, in which the Union demanded, among other things, that the employees’ legitimate heirs be given jobs upon retirement. The writ suit filed by Mahanagar Palika contesting this ruling was rejected by the Gujarat High Court.
Advocate Suhas Kadam, who represented the appellant Mahanagar Palika before the Apex Court, argued that the appointment of an employee’s heirs upon retirement or superannuation would violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and go against the purpose of the appointment being made out of compassion. On the other hand, Attorney Iyer Shruti Gopal for the respondents argued that because the appointment of the employees’ heirs upon their retirement and/or superannuation cannot be characterised as being made on compassionate grounds but rather is known as varas hakka, any decision made by this Court regarding compassionate appointments will not apply to the facts of the current case.
The court remarked that the plan of the State Government governs the workers of the Mahanagar Palika/Municipal Corporation on an equal footing with government employees and does not allow for the appointment of the employees’ heirs on compassionate grounds upon retirement and/or superannuation.
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