Authority: High Court at Calcutta (Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side)
Order Date: 12 November 2026
Case Overview
- Petitioner: Sumitra Mejhan, widow of a former employee of Eastern Coalfields Limited (respondent No.1).
- She sought a compassionate appointment for her son and, later in December 2024, applied for Monthly Monetary Cash Compensation (MMCC) after the employee’s death on 7 November 2016.
- The respondent requested death certificates of the employee’s first wife and the petitioner’s two other children; the petitioner could provide the children’s certificates but not the first wife’s, as she died before the petitioner’s marriage.
- The respondent did not act on either the compassionate appointment or the MMCC application, leaving them pending since 2016.
- Respondent’s counsel argued that the first wife or her heirs might claim benefits, justifying the need for the death certificate.
- Petitioner's counsel highlighted that the employee’s new service book, dated 1997, records the petitioner as the second wife and confirms the first wife’s prior death, a fact known to the respondent.
Final Outcome
- The Court held that the respondent cannot rely on conjecture regarding the first wife’s claim.
- The petitioner is directed to submit an affidavit within two weeks affirming that the first wife is deceased and that the petitioner and her surviving children are the sole entitled heirs.
- Upon receipt of the affidavit, respondent No.5 (Eastern Coalfields Ltd) shall consider the MMCC claim, including interest, calculated from 7 November 2016, and decide within four weeks, without requiring the first wife’s death certificate.
- The writ petition is disposed of; no order as to costs.
- An urgent certified copy of the order may be supplied upon compliance with formalities.
Topics: Compassionate Appointment, Monthly Monetary Cash Compensation