Sanghita Maity Alias Sanghita Maiti v. State of West Bengal and Ors.
Compassionate appointment – died-in-harness category
Case brief
What is this about?
Calcutta High Court, FMA 587 of 2025 (CAN 2 of 2025), decided 08-04-2025 (Soumen Sen & Smita Das De, JJ.): appeal dismissed against rejection of a daughter's prayer for compassionate appointment on died-in-harness grounds; father (Assistant Teacher, Government Aided School) died 10.04.2012; rejection by District Inspector of Schools on 19.09.2014 for excess family income (pension Rs.14,380/- vs Group-D salary Rs.10,860/-); Single Judge's dismissal of 12.07.2024 upheld; ~10-year delay presumed to negate financial distress; Ram Autar Singh Yadav (SC, Civil Appeal 13806 of 2024) distinguished. Keywords: compassionate appointment, died-in-harness, delay and laches, financial hardship, WBBSE, District Inspector of Schools.
What did the court decide?
Appointment under the died-in-harness (compassionate) scheme is an exception to the general rule of appointment; its purpose is to give immediate succour to the family members of the deceased so that they can tide over their difficulties.