Shimla: In a sharp rap to the Himachal Pradesh government, the High Court has ruled that the mere pendency of an FIR under minor penal sections cannot be used as an excuse to deny a compassionate job already approved by the competent authority.
Justice Sandeep Sharma, allowing a petition filed by Yog Raj of Chamba, directed the state to immediately appoint him as Junior Office Assistant (IT) with all consequential benefits, seniority from the due date, and monetary benefits from the date of the order — subject to the outcome of the criminal case.
Yog Raj’s father, a JBT teacher, died in harness in 2009. His plea for a compassionate job, first rejected in 2010, was revived in 2021 when the government cleared his appointment. But the offer letter never came.
The Education Department later claimed the delay was due to a 2019 FIR against him under Sections 323 and 325 IPC — offences related to a village scuffle causing simple and grievous hurt.
The court slammed this stand, noting the case was trivial, no conviction had occurred, and the petitioner had never concealed facts.
“Registration of an FIR is not conviction,” the court observed, citing earlier rulings that minor criminal cases cannot be equated with moral turpitude or serious offences.
Quoting precedents from the Supreme Court and its own benches, the HC said denying a livelihood for years over a petty altercation was unjust.
“Such pendency cannot become an impediment for offering appointment,” the order read.
The verdict is likely to set a precedent for similar compassionate appointment cases stuck due to pending minor FIRs in the state.