The Telangana High Court has ruled that a married daughter cannot be denied compassionate appointment solely because of her marital status, holding that a rule which differentiates between a son and a daughter violates constitutional equality principles.
Justice E.V. Venugopal directed the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGSPDCL) to issue appropriate orders appointing Kumbham Jyothi, whose application had been repeatedly rejected because she was the married daughter of a deceased employee. The court also directed the utility to provide applicable benefits, if any.
Jyothi’s father, K. Ramakrishna Reddy, worked as an assistant lineman with TGSPDCL and died in service on June 4, 2014. She had sought appointment on compassionate grounds, but the authorities declined to consider her application on the basis of her marital status.
TGSPDCL argued before the court that compassionate appointment is not a source of recruitment or an automatic right. It submitted that such appointments are an exception to the general rule of recruitment based on merit and equal opportunity, and that applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria and conditions prescribed under the employer’s scheme.
The power utility also contended that Jyothi could not be treated as dependent on her deceased father because she had lived for nearly 11 years without receiving such an appointment. The court, however, directed the authorities to appoint her in accordance with its order.
The judgment relied on a recent Supreme Court ruling in Sayara Khatoon alias Shayara Khatoon vs State of Bihar. That judgment held that a classification which differentiates a daughter from a son is unconstitutional. It also rejected restrictions under which only divorced or deserted daughters could qualify for consideration.
The Telangana High Court’s ruling places the focus on how public-sector compassionate appointment schemes define family dependency and eligibility. Such appointments are intended to provide employment support to families of employees who die while in service, but the schemes operate through conditions framed by individual employers and public authorities.
The decision does not treat compassionate appointment as an automatic entitlement. Instead, it rejects marital status as a standalone basis for excluding an otherwise eligible daughter and requires the utility to process Jyothi’s appointment in line with the court’s directions. The immediate next step is for TGSPDCL to issue the appropriate appointment orders and determine any applicable benefits.
