Judge nisha banu HC asks Trichy corporation to disburse benefits to relatives of deceased worker

ADS
OPEN APP


CITYHC asks Trichy corporation to disburse benefits to relatives of deceased worker
Kaushik Kannan | TNN | Updated: Jan 18, 2020, 12:24 IST






AA

Representative image

MADURAI: The Trichy Corporation has been directed by the Madras high court to disburse terminal benefits to the family of a deceased sanitary workerwithin 12 weeks more than eight years after the civic body rejected the benefits.
R Rajeswari filed a petition at the high court Madurai bench in 2011, seeking to quash a August 5, 2011 rejection order and sought to pay the terminal and other benefits of her deceased husband. She also sought to consider her for employment under compassionate ground.
The petitioner’s counsel stated that Rajeswari’s husband Rajendran was appointed as sanitary worker in the corporation on compassionate ground in 1999 after the death of his father. He submitted that based on an anonymous petition stating that Rajendran had obtained employment by suppressing the fact that one of his family members was already working in the corporation, the authorities dismissed him from service after conducting an inquiry.

Challenging his dismissal, Rajendran filed a petition before the Madras high court, which on December 23, 2003, set aside the dismissal order and granted liberty to the authorities concerned to proceed with disciplinary proceedings.
Pursuant to the court order, the corporation commissioner reinstated the petitioner’s husband into service in 2004 and when the departmental inquiry was pending, he died due to ailment in 2007.
The counsel stated that the petitioner submitted a representation to disburse terminal benefits and to provide her employment on compassionate ground. Since, there was no reply, she filed an application under the RTI Act and the authorities passed an order on August 5, 2011, stating that since the disciplinary proceedings cannot be dropped, pensionary benefits cannot be given to the petitioner.
The government advocate submitted that Rajendran had obtained appointment under compassionate ground by suppressing the fact that his mother was employed in the same corporation.
He submitted that the petitioner was paid money under the group insurance scheme and final settlement of eligible days of earned leave and therefore the sanctioning of pensionary benefits does not arise.
On perusal of the submissions, justice J Nisha Banu observed that the authorities concerned cannot take such a stand when the disciplinary proceedings were dropped after the demise of the petitioner’s husband.
Hence, by partially allowing the petition, the judge set aside the rejection order and gave the direction to the Trichy Corporation.
The judge further directed the authorities to consider compassionate appointment to the petitioner in accordance with law.

You may also like...