Married daughter too eligible for Odisha govt job under compassionate grounds: HC

Bhubaneswar: The state government cannot deny job to the married daughter of an employee under compassionate grounds, ruled the Orissa High Court.

There is no legal validity to any restrictions laid by the state government to deny job to the married daughter of an employee under compassionate grounds, observed a single-judge bench of Orissa High Court recently.

Denial of job to a married daughter under compassionate grounds violates Article 14, 15 and 16 (2) of the Indian Constitution, said the single-judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi while hearing a petition filed by one Seemarani Pandab.

Seemarani had applied for recruitment under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme of the state government in place of her father who had died while serving as a physical education teacher (PET) at CRS High School at Tihidi in Bhadrak district in 2004.

However, Seemarani was denied the job as per a government circular that prohibited married daughters from availing job under compassionate grounds.

Seemarani had filed a petition in the Orissa HC seeking justice in 2011.

The single-judge bench also directed the authorities to consider the application of the petitioner from the day on which it was first taken for consideration by the authorities concerned.

The age of the petitioner shall not be a factor while considering her case for a suitable job under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme by the authority, said the court.