The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday set aside the Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government’s order granting government jobs to the family members of 2025 Karur Stampede victims.
The high court ruled that the job appointments violated the constitutional principal of equality and equal opportunity in public employment.
After coming to power, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay had announced government jobs for the families of people who died in a stampede during his election rally in Karur on compassionate grounds.
However, the division bench of Justice CV Karthikeyan and Justice R Sakthivel held that compassionate appointments cannot be extended through executive discretion in a manner that bypasses established legal norms.
It observed that such appointments are intended to address the immediate financial distress caused by the death of a government employee in service and cannot be treated as a general relief measure following a public tragedy.
The bench emphasised that the state’s executive powers under Article 162 of the Constitution are not unlimited and must operate strictly within constitutional boundaries. It noted that any exercise of executive authority that departs from the guarantees enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 would be legally unsustainable.
Delivering the verdict, the court observed that the government’s decision overlooked the rights of thousands of eligible applicants already waiting for compassionate appointments in various government departments.
Extending such appointments to the families of stampede victims, it said, would unfairly place them ahead of others who had been awaiting consideration under the existing policy framework.
“Exercise of executive power must be within the constitutional limits. If executive action were to be left unfettered and given free hand, chaos will reign,” it observed.
The judges held that Articles 14 and 16, which guarantee equality before the law and equal opportunity in matters of public employment, cannot be diluted through administrative orders.
While acknowledging the tragedy and the state’s concern for the bereaved families, the bench said constitutional safeguards must prevail over executive decisions.
(With inputs from agencies)