Madras HC cancels government jobs for Karur stampede victims

MADURAI: In a setback to the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday set aside an order granting government jobs to the family members of those who died in the Karur stampede last year. Law Minister R Nirmalkumar said the state government will contest the HC order in the Supreme Court.

A division bench comprising Justices CV Karthikeyan and Sakthivel categorically held that the State government's move to provide jobs on compassionate grounds overlooked the needs of many who are waiting to get compassionate appointments in government departments.

"When there is a waiting list, it is not appropriate to overlook their needs and extend what is termed as succour to the family members of the Karur incident. If compassionate appointments were permitted in this case, it would open the floodgates to similar claims in other cases,” the bench said, pointing out that the families of victims of accidents involving state buses and frequent firecracker explosions in Sivakasi had been compensated monetarily, not through compassionate appointments.

“We hold that these appointments are in direct violation of the guarantee to a citizen of this country under Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution," the bench said.

It further noted that many persons appointed on compassionate grounds were themselves awaiting regularisation and that extending government employment in the present case would not be justified.

The bench also observed that the State could instead consider providing skill development training and other rehabilitation measures to the affected families, which would be more beneficial than granting government jobs.

Appearing for the State, Advocate General Vijay Narayan submitted that the decision to provide government jobs was a considered policy decision by the government.

The State further submitted that similar appointments were made after the Sterlite firing incident by the previous governments on compassionate grounds. The State argued that the decision had been made solely to provide immediate relief to the affected families.

In response, the petitioners who challenged the appointments argued that the State had failed to explain what distinguished the Karur incident from other tragedies in which no such appointments had been granted. They further submitted that government jobs had not been provided to the families of those who died in several other tragedies, including the 1992 Kumbakonam school tragedy and the Chennai floods. They also pointed out that around 3.9 million youth were unemployed and nearly two million candidates applied for every major recruitment examination.

The bench noted that it had earlier permitted the State to distribute appointment orders only on a temporary basis and had directed that the main case be decided before they received the first month's salary.

HC passed order without hearing beneficiaries: Law Minister

Announcing the State’s decision to challenge the verdict, Nirmalkumar said the government would file a Special Leave Petition before the apex court on Tuesday morning, arguing that the High Court’s order had been passed without hearing those directly affected by it.

“The beneficiaries who had already received government appointment orders were not impleaded as respondents in the case. The court delivered its verdict without giving them an opportunity to present their case,” the minister said.

According to the minister, the government considers the omission significant as the High Court’s order directly impacts the employment and livelihood of the appointees.

The High Court bench, rejecting the objection to the maintainability of the PILs, held that the present case was not a service matter involving an individual's appointment, but a challenge to a policy decision affecting public employment.

The bench, however, refrained from making any observations on the Karur stampede itself, noting that the CBI investigation into the incident was continuing under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

The order was passed on a batch of public interest litigations filed by Naam Tamilar Katchi functionary Dheeran Thirumurugan, Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi State executive committee member Seeni Ahamed, and Santosh Kumar of Vedasandur in Dindigul district.