GUWAHATI: The Andhra Pradesh High Court decreed on Thursday, October 31, that a daughter remains an integral part of her parent’s family, irrespective of her marital status.
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In its ruling, the Court stated, “Sons and daughters, whether they are unmarried or married, are part of the family of their parents for their entire lives. Just because the daughter got married does not mean she ceases to be a member of her parents’ family.”
The Court’s remarks came in response to the petition filed by a woman who was denied appointment on the grounds of her marital status. The petitioner’s father, whose father worked as a sweeper in a temple had passed away in 2013, but she was told to provide proof of divorce to be considered eligible for the appointment, as her husband had deserted her.
Despite explaining that she was unable to locate her husband for extracting the divorce certificate, her request for compassionate appointment was denied, prompting her to approach the High Court in 2021.
Justice K Manmadha Rao, back in his October 18 judgement, had criticised a 1999 state policy that discriminates against daughters in matters of compassionate appointments solely based on whether they are married. He described the exclusion of married daughters from compassionate appointments as "arbitrary and discriminatory," noting that no similar restriction exists for married sons under the same policy.
The 1999 State policy stipulates that married daughters can only be considered for compassionate appointments if they were dependent on the deceased employee and if there were no competing claims from other family members. The Court found this clause discriminatory, highlighting the disparity as an example of gender-based discrimination that persists even within state regulations, which unjustly impacts the rights of married daughters.
Thus, the High Court ordered the temple authorities to provide the petitioner with a suitable position, effective from the date of her father’s passing, along with all associated service benefits.
Advocate DV Sasidhar represented the petitioner, while Standing Counsel K Madhva Reddy appeared for the State’s Endowments Department.