GO on appointments to women legal heirs is not valid : HC

The Madras High Court today held that a government order that women legal heirs of deceased employees are not eligible for appointment on compassionate grounds if they were married before November 29, 2001 is not valid.
Allowing a petition filed by P Usha Rani, who was denied appointment on compassionate ground by authorities citing the government order, Justice S Vaidyanathan said there cannot be any cutoff date when the government has decided to consider man and woman equally.
"I hold that the government order of June 18, 2011 is illegal in this writ petition in fixing cutoff date for appointment."

Since the cutoff date fixed by the government was illegal, the order of rejection of job on compassionate grounds to her by the District Collector, Ariyalur, was not valid, the judge said.
He also directed the official to consider her case and "provide appointment on compassionate grounds in the next vacancy arising in Class III or IV if the petitioner is otherwise eligible and if there are no legal impediments within three months from the date of receipt of this order."
Usha Rani's father S Paramasivam, who was in Revenue Department, died in 2008.
She was the only child of her father and got married on July 12, 2001. She applied for a job on compassionate grounds to the District Collector on July 7, 2008 which was rejected by the official maintaining that she was not entitled to appointment on compassionate grounds.

Challenging it, she moved the court stating that since marriage is not a bar for compassionate appointments in the case of a son, the same yardstick shall be applied in the case of a daughter also and sought to declare the government order invalid.