LI Network
Published on: December 02, 2023 at 11:50 IST
The Karnataka High Court has ruled in favor of the legal heirs of a wrongfully terminated Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) employee, directing the Corporation to consider their plea for compassionate employment.
The court, presided over by Justice N S Sanjay Gowda, ordered the LIC to relax the age limit and consider their claim for employment. This decision comes in the wake of the deceased employee’s unresolved termination dispute, extending till 2012, ultimately leading to the court’s direction to the LIC.
The petitioner, the son of B.M.Thippeswamy, the terminated LIC employee, highlighted that his father was dismissed from service in 1990 by the LIC, initiating a legal battle that persisted until 2012. Thippeswamy passed away during this ongoing dispute in 1999.
The Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court later accepted the legal representatives’ claim, annulling the dismissal and mandating back wages and service continuity.
Despite the High Court affirming the Tribunal’s decision regarding wrongful termination, the petitioner’s mother sought compassionate appointment for her son. However, the LIC rejected the plea, citing a substantial delay of 12 years from Thippeswamy’s demise.
The court, reviewing the case, noted that Thippeswamy was deemed in service till his death due to the ongoing litigation against his termination.
Consequently, the court deemed the legal heirs eligible to claim compassionate employment, emphasizing that the LIC’s prolonged dispute obstructed the petitioner’s timely application.
The court, highlighting the obligation to uphold the deceased employee’s family’s lifestyle, directed the LIC to reconsider the petitioner’s application by relaxing the age limit, given the submission made within the stipulated one-year period after the dismissal of the writ appeal.
The LIC was instructed to conclude this process within three months.
