HC on Govt Job: Married Girls Entitled to Government Jobs on Compassionate Grounds, Says Calcutta High Court

Kolkata, December 9: The Calcutta High Court has ruled that even married women, being a member of her paternal family, are entitled to get a state government job on compassionate grounds. Although a division bench of Justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi delivered the order on Friday, the copy of the order was available only on Saturday morning.

The bench passed the order in a case on a job application made by Rekha Pal, for compensatory job against land owned by her father for a government project, which was rejected by the West Bengal government since she was married at the time of application. The land was procured for Bakreswar Thermal Power Station, a project of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited, in Birbhum district of West Bengal. HC on Gratuity: Calcutta High Court Directs FCI To Pay Employee's Gratuity, Says 'Gratuity Not a Charity, Can Only Be Stopped if Employment Terminated'.

In 2012, the state government issued a notification announcing jobs to one member of each family whose land was acquired for the project. Accordingly Rekha Pal applied for the job. However, the state government rejected the application on grounds that she was married at the time of application.

She then approached an erstwhile single-judge bench of Calcutta High Court against the rejection of application and argued that since after her father's demise she had taken the full- responsibility of her widowed mother, she should be given the job.

The single-judge bench agreed to her argument and in 2014 directed the state government to grant her the job. However, the state government immediately challenged that order at the division bench of the Calcutta High Court. HC on Animal Attack: Calcutta High Court Directs State Govt To Pay Rs 5 Lakh Compensation to Family of Man Killed in Tiger Attack in Sundarbans Area, Says 'Compensation Can't Be Denied Even if Law Transgressed'.

Finally on Friday, the division bench too had upheld the order of the single-judge bench. In his argument, Pal’s counsel argued that if a widow or divorced woman is entitled to be considered as a member of her paternal family, why should the same not be applicable for a married woman.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 09, 2023 02:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).