AHMEDABAD,Jan19, 2012: A divorced woman’s appeal that she should be treated as an ‘unmarried’ daughter and given government job on compassionate ground after her father’s death has been rejected by the Gujarat High Court.The court ruled that Nirmala Solanki was divorcee and hence could not claim a job on compassionate ground under the state government scheme an “unmarried” daughter following the death of her father, who worked in the police department. The court said the two categories — unmarried and divorcee — could not be equated with each other nor could they be merged with each other. Nirmala was married on May 26, 2009 but following some marital disputes, she left her husband’s home and started living with her father from April 10, 2010. Meanwhile, on June 9, 2010, Nirmala’s father died. Subsequently, she got divorce on August 15, 2010. Soon after the divorce, she applied for a job in the Gujarat government on compassionate ground as a dependent of her father who died while working with the state police. But the government rejected the application. Nirmala challenged this decision in the HC and her counsel had argued that for all practical purposes, Nirmala was and had to be treated as unmarried daughter. However, the court decided against this while holding that the present scheme of the government to give compassionate appointments would not be applicable to a “divorced daughter”. “Simply going back to father’s family after marriage, whether as divorcee or otherwise, cannot give to her today the status of being unmarried,” the court ruled while dismissing Nirmala’s appeal.
