Calcutta High Court Grants Married Women Right to Compassionate State Jobs

The Calcutta High Court, in a landmark ruling, has declared that even married women, as members of their paternal families, are eligible for state government jobs on compassionate grounds. The division bench, comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar Rashidi, issued the order on Friday in response to a case involving Rekha Pal.

The West Bengal government had rejected Pal’s job application for compensation against land owned by her father, acquired for the Bakreswar Thermal Power Station project. The rejection was based on her marital status at the time of application. Pal argued that, as the caretaker of her widowed mother after her father’s demise, she deserved the job.

The single-judge bench agreed in 2014, and on Friday, the division bench upheld the decision, challenging the state government’s stance. Pal’s counsel emphasized the parity in considering widows or divorced women as members of their paternal families and advocated the same for married women.