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Widow's Job Conditional on Supporting In-Laws
27 Sep
Summary
- Widow's compassionate appointment required her to support in-laws.
- She remarried and stopped maintaining her deceased husband's parents.
- Court ordered 25% salary deduction for mother-in-law's support.
In a significant ruling on September 17, 2026, the Rajasthan High Court has clarified the responsibilities tied to compassionate appointments in government service. The case involved the widow of Subhash Chand Verma, a technical helper who died on March 24, 2017, leaving his family without their sole breadwinner.
Verma's widow received a compassionate appointment as a lower division clerk on August 30, 2017. Crucially, she had submitted an undertaking to maintain other dependent family members, including her in-laws. However, she later left her matrimonial home, remarried, and ceased providing support to her deceased husband's parents.
The court observed that compassionate appointments are intended to alleviate financial distress for the entire family of the deceased employee. Given the widow's specific commitment, the court ruled she could not abdicate her responsibility to her mother-in-law.
Consequently, the Ajmer Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited was directed to deduct 25% of the widow's monthly salary for her mother-in-law's lifelong support. Additionally, the deceased employee's terminal benefits were to be split equally, with 50% going to the widow and 50% to his mother.
