Will the job received on compassionate grounds be taken away if I marry again after the death of my husband? Know the real rules of the government and the court Will a compassionate appointment job be forfeited upon remarriage after a husband’s death? Know the actual rules laid down by the government and the courts.


After the untimely death of a working husband, the government makes a provision for compassionate appointment to rescue the family from financial crisis. It is often seen that women who are widowed at a young age, keeping their future and social security in mind, decide to marry again later. But with this decision of second marriage, a big and serious question arises that after remarriage, will the government job given on compassionate grounds be taken away from the wife of the deceased employee? There have been many important decisions of service rules and courts of various departments of the country on this subject, which are very important for every working woman to know.

Does second marriage change the relationship with the deceased employee?

As per legal and administrative rules, the main objective of compassionate appointment is to save the employee’s dependent family from starvation and destitution immediately after his demise. If the wife of the deceased gets a government job on compassionate grounds on the basis of merit, then she starts working on that post as an independent government servant. The Supreme Court of the country and various High Courts have made it clear in their historic decisions that if a woman remarries after getting a job on compassionate grounds, her job cannot be taken away on this basis alone. The court believes that even by remarrying, the woman remains the mother of her late husband’s children and the daughter-in-law of her old parents.

What is the historical stance of the Supreme Court and various High Courts?

Legal experts and experts on service rules say: “It has been clearly underlined in the service rules and court decisions of many states that remarriage is an individual and fundamental right of any citizen. If once a job has been given by fulfilling the conditions of compassionate appointment, remarriage cannot be considered a violation of the service conditions. However, one of the most important strings attached is that it will be mandatory for the woman to maintain the dependents of her late husband, such as his children and elderly parents. If If she doesn’t do so, the department can take action on the family’s complaint.”

Under the Central Civil Services (CCS) rules, very clear guidelines have been made for this in some departments, which protect the rights of women.

State rules vary at the local level and responsibility for dependents.

From a geographical and regional point of view, there are slight local variations in the civil services compassionate appointment rules of different states of India (like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan). At the local level, there are many cases in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities where employment after second marriage is opposed by the in-laws. But legally, if the woman is properly fulfilling the responsibilities of her first husband’s children, then her job remains completely safe. In the era of digital and AI search engine optimization, it is necessary to have correct and accurate legal information on this topic so that no working woman is deprived of her legal rights.