No compassion
The widow of an Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation employee agreed, in writing, to accept Rs 1,00,000 in lieu of a compassionate appointment. Later, she changed her mind and offered to return the money if given a job. The company refused so she approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ruled in her favour. The Supreme Court, however, held that compassionate appointment could not be claimed as a right, it is only given to help a family tide over a sudden crisis. In this case, the complainant was given all monetary benefits, including an extra amount, so she was not entitled to an appointment, especially because there was no vacancy where she could be fitted in (APSRTC Musheerabad vs Sarvarunissa Begum).
The colour of money
When a government servant demanded bribe, a trap was set to catch him red-handed, or, to be exact, pink-handed. The currency notes were treated with a special chemical so that the hands of anyone who touched them would turn pink when washed with sodium chlorate. The man asked his subordinate to count the money so, when tested, his hands did not turn pink. Since his subordinate’s hands turned pink, a judge took cognizance of his “offence” and added his name to the case against the main accused under Section 18 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The prosecution contended that even though there was no proof that he had demanded bribe, the tainted money was recovered from him. The Orissa High Court quashed the cognizance order as the subordinate had only counted the money but directed the lower court to continue proceedings against the main accused (Jaganmaya Mishra vs State of Orissa).
Stick to the brief
A decree was awarded to recover Rs 4,550. The executing court imposed an interest of 12 per cent from the date of application to the date of realisation. Relying on earlier decisions, the Supreme Court, however, held that the executing court could not grant interest when there is no mention of interest in the decree because its jurisdiction was limited to executing the order, it could not move beyond the decree (State of Punjab and Haryana vs Harvinder Singh).
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