In Brief
A government employee's divorced daughter applied for appointment on compassionate grounds following her mother's death. The High Court ruled that divorced daughters should be treated similarly to unmarried or widowed daughters under the compassionate appointment scheme. The Supreme Court reversed this decision, holding that eligibility must be determined by the norms existing on the date of the employee's death, not the application date. Since the respondent was married when her mother died and obtained divorce only months later, she did not qualify. The Court emphasized that compassionate appointments are exceptional and must strictly follow statutory criteria applicable at the time of death."
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