Excluding Married Daughters From Family Definition Unconstitutional: Supreme Court

NEW DELHI, Jun 3: The Supreme Court has ruled that married daughters cannot be excluded from consideration for compassionate appointment, holding that such exclusion from the definition of “family” is arbitrary, unjustified and constitutionally untenable.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe made the observation while setting aside an order of the Allahabad High Court, which had held that a married daughter was not covered under the definition of family for the purpose of compassionate appointment.

The apex court delivered the verdict while hearing an appeal filed by a married daughter of a deceased fair price shop dealer whose claim for appointment on compassionate grounds had been rejected.

The woman had challenged a 2019 government order that excluded married daughters from the definition of family, arguing that the provision was discriminatory.

Compassionate appointment is a policy under which a government job is provided to an eligible family member of an employee who dies in service or retires prematurely due to medical reasons.

The Supreme Court held that denying married daughters the benefit of compassionate appointment solely on the basis of marital status cannot be sustained under constitutional principles. (Agencies)