Cuttack: Issuing a warning that exemplary costs of Rs 50,000 would follow in case of non-compliance, the Orissa high court dismissed a writ appeal filed by the Centre and CRPF authorities and upheld a single judge’s order directing compassionate appointment of a disabled CRPF constable’s wife as head constable (ministerial cadre).A division bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Chittaranjan Dash said it was a “fit case for levying exemplary costs of Rs 50,000” but refrained for the present, expressing hope that the authorities would now comply with the order within the stipulated time. In the Jan 15 judgment, the bench made it clear that if delay was brooked, the levy would take place “without any further order” and the amount could be recovered from erring officials.The appeal challenged an Oct 21, 2024 order of a single judge directing the CRPF authorities to appoint the wife of the CRPF constable (ground duty) to any vacant post of head constable (ministerial) within two months.The husband suffered acute physical disability in a terrorist bomb blast while on combat duty in Srinagar on Jan 23, 2007, and was medically invalidated from service on March 7, 2014. His wife sought appointment as head constable, for which she was qualified as a graduate with a post-graduate diploma in computer application (PGDCA) under the scheme dated Jan 16, 2013. Her plea for compassionate appointment was rejected by the CRPF on June 18, 2020, prompting the couple to approach the high court.Dismissing the Centre’s intra-court appeal as “devoid of merits”, the bench observed that compassionate appointment schemes must be “liberally construed in favour of the claimant, unlike in civil sectors of employment”. It held that denying the post of head constable, despite offering a constable’s post, reflected a lack of humane approach.Rejecting the Centre’s argument that the claimant had failed a written test, the bench said there was “no legal requirement of Written Test of the kind”. It noted that “as a sinking person catches the straw hoping to stay afloat, the wife too has taken the Written Test”, and her alleged failure could not be used to deny her claim.Coming down heavily on the authorities, the judges said their conduct was “akin to the bureaucratic approach of the Colonial Era, long gone by after the advent of Constitution”. It stressed that denial of rightful compassionate appointments could seriously impact the morale of combat forces, who must have confidence that their families will have “something…to fall back upon” in the event of death or disability.The HC directed the CRPF authorities to implement the single judge’s order within eight weeks and submit a compliance report to the registrar-general within a week thereafter.
