HC cancels appointment granted on compassionate grounds to dependent of former MLA, representative not a govt servant, says HC

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court cancelled the appointment granted on compassionate grounds to the dependent of former MLA K K Ramachandran Nair. The appointment was cancelled by a bench led by the chief justice. The government appointed R Prashanth, Nair’s son in 2018 after creating a supernumerary post in the public works department. The court issued the order cancelling the appointment while considering the plea of Ashok Kumar of Palakkad questioning the appointment.

He was appointed in the public works department as assistant engineer. The MLA is not a government employee but a representative of the people and is elected for a fixed term. The petitioner had alleged that it was illegal to appoint him after the death of the representative.

Meantime, the cabinet then appointed him as assistant engineer as a special case after creating a supernumerary post. However, the court upheld the petitioner's complaint and quashed the appointment.