Karnataka High Court cautions State government against upgrading compassionate appointees to higher posts in contradiction of norms

The Karnataka High Court has cautioned that the State government must tread carefully while considering requests from compassionate appointees for transposition to higher Group ‘C’ posts, merely because they possess educational qualifications higher than those prescribed for the posts to which they were initially appointed.

The court said that picking and choosing individuals appointed under the compassionate scheme for higher posts — contrary to the scheme of compassionate appointment — “would not merely disturb administrative discipline, but may also generate legitimate grievances of unequal treatment under Article 14 of the Constitution of India”.