Mother-in-law entitled to maintenance when daughter-in-law gets compassionate appointment: HC
In a significant judgment on the obligations attached to compassionate appointments, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that a mother-in-law is entitled to maintenance from her daughter-in-law if she has obtained employment on compassionate grounds following her husband’s death. The court made it clear that compassionate appointments were not merely about securing employment but also about honouring the responsibilities that came with it.
Dismissing a plea filed by the daughter-in-law, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar observed that compassionate appointments were designed to help families cope with the financial crisis caused by the loss of the breadwinner. However, those benefiting from such employment could not avoid their moral and ethical duties towards dependents of the deceased.
The case arose after the petitioner secured a junior clerk post in the Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, in 2005 following her husband’s death. At the time of her appointment, the petitioner undertook through an affidavit that she would look after her deceased husband’s dependents and family.
Referring to this affidavit, Justice Brar asserted: “The petitioner cannot be allowed to merely take the benefits of a compassionate appointment and avoid the responsibilities that come with it.” The court also noted that the petitioner was earning a “handsome amount” of Rs 80,000 per month. She could, as such, comfortably pay Rs 10,000 per month to the respondent- mother-in-law as maintenance.
Referring to the technicalities, Justice Brar asserted Section 125 of CrPC, now Section 144 of the BNSS, did not explicitly place a legal obligation on a daughter-in-law to maintain her in-laws. But justice demanded its nuanced interpretation in light of the peculiar facts and circumstances as the laws meant to provide maintenance aimed to prevent destitution and vagrancy among vulnerable dependents.
“The overarching aim of justice is to serve what is deserved and accountability and fairness are identifying features of the same. However, the purpose would be defeated, if justice is viewed in its absolute mechanical form, devoid of context and nuance. While justice in itself is a dynamic concept, directly influenced by the morality of an ever-evolving society, it can be said with certainty that absolute impartiality and lack of compassion often claims fairness as a casualty,” the court observed.
Justice Brar added it was of utmost importance in a welfare State that the vulnerability of the disadvantaged was recognised and the application of justice was viewed from a renewed perspective. “In the current socio-economic scenario, the plight of the have-nots can only be truly addressed when compassion drives justice as it is only through compassion that justice can be substantially realised,” the court added.
