Authority Personally Responsible To Pay Damages For Unjustified Delay In Deciding Application For Compassionate Appointment: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that any unreasoned or unjustifiable delay on the part of the Authority to consider an application for appointment on compassionate grounds, would make such an Authority personally responsible to pay damages by way of wages to that applicant who he would be entitled to, if an appointment had been granted. Justice M. Nagaprasanna while allowing the petition filed by one Hruthik N. whose application for compassionate appointment was rejected after two years and nine months, said, “This Court in umpteen number of cases, has come across the authorities not considering the applications given seeking appointment on compassionate grounds immediately notwithstanding the need for appointment lying in its immediacy. Keeping the application pending for years or months will defeat the very object of framing the Rule for grant of appointment on compassionate grounds. It is trite that a family which loses its breadwinner would be driven to impecuniosities or become condemned by penury. Therefore, the need for immediate consideration of such representations/applications for appointment on compassionate grounds is paramount.”