High Court snubs Centre for ‘discriminatory’ Railways circular

Kolkata: Snubbing the Centre for issuing a Railways circular which violated the constitutional mandate of ‘equality before law’ (Article 14 of Constitution) and subsequently refused job on compassionate ground to a son of a deceased RPF constable, born out of his second wife, the Calcutta High Court directed the Railways to grant him the appointment.

The Bench of Justice Ananya Bandopadhyay was hearing a writ petition praying that Railways consider the appointment of the younger son of the second wife of the deceased RPF head constable on compassionate ground. The circular based on which the Railways denied it was also challenged. The petitioners were the first wife who later died and the younger son of the second wife.

The Railways had said that according to its circular of 1992, if an employee died in harness leaving more than one wife along with children born to the second wife, appointment on compassionate grounds to the second wife and her children could not be considered unless the administration had permitted the second marriage in special circumstances, taking into account personal laws and other such circumstances.

The first wife proved that the authorities knew of the second marriage since the children of the second wife were getting benefits as dependents after their father’s death. She also did not object to the job being given to the second wife’s younger son since she does not have children.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the children of the second wife could not be treated as illegitimate as section 16 of Hindu Marriage Act held that children of a void marriage are legitimate. The court observed: “A child by virtue of its birth cannot be enamoured by legitimacy and/or stigmatised by illegitimacy contrary to the principle enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution to its prejudice devoid of any iota of fault on its part of having taken birth through a void marriage.”

The court directed that the claimant be granted the appointment on compassionate ground. The appointment process needs to be completed within three months of this order.