Children born out of all void and voidable marriages eligible for compassionate appointment: Karnataka HC

‘It is just and necessary to protect the rights of such children irrespective of the personal laws applicable to their parents’

Children born from all void or voidable marriages, irrespective of the personal laws applicable to their parents, are eligible for compassionate appointments in government service, said the High Court of Karnataka. The court said it is constrained to make these observations in order “to protect the children born out of void and voidable marriages under any of the personal laws applicable in India or the Special Marriage Act, 1954, irrespective of whether the personal law confers such legitimacy or not”. A Division Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar, while analysing a verdict of the apex court on the right of a child born out of void and voidable marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act for compassionate job, has found it necessary to examine the right of a child born out of a void marriage irrespective of the personal laws of parents.