In Brief
The widow of a coal mine worker who had been missing since 2002 sought compassionate appointment for her son after obtaining a civil death decree in 2009. She filed the application in 2013, over a decade later. The High Court had quashed the termination of her husband and directed reconsideration of the compassionate appointment claim, finding no bar in the National Coal Wage Agreement. The Supreme Court held that although the legal grounds for rejection were unsustainable, compassionate appointment cannot be granted after such a long delay because it is meant to provide immediate financial relief at the time of death—a purpose not served by a claim made 10+ years later when the family's financial crisis had long passed.
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