Sister-in-law living separately won’t fall within ambit of family: Allahabad HC | Lucknow News
Prayagraj: Deciding a dispute regarding the appointment of an anganwadi worker, the Allahabad high court has observed that a sister-in-law living separately will not fall within the ambit of family.“A sister-in-law can be considered to be a member of the family provided both brothers are living together having a common kitchen and house,” the court said. With above observation, Justice Ajit Kumar quashed the order dated June 13, 2025, passed by the Bareilly district programme officer cancelling the appointment of the petitioner as anganwadi worker chiefly on the ground that petitioner’s sister-in-law was also working as anganwadi assistant in the same block. The Government Order does not permit the posting of two women of the same family at the same anganwadi centre. It was argued that petitioner’s sister-in-law is living in a separate house with a different house number and hence she also does not fall within the definition of family. The counsel for the petitioner had produced relevant documents of the family register which show that the petitioner’s husband is living in a separate house. It was further submitted that even in civil procedure code, the word family has been defined as consisting of man, wife and child or children being the issue of heirs. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that by no stretch of imagination, the sister-in-law can fall within the definition of family for the purposes of selection and appointment to a post. After going through the entire record and submission of the parties, the court in its decision dated August 12 allowed the petition. “The district programme officer is directed to reinstate the petitioner as anganwadi worker to discharge her duties and shall also be paid salary month by month. The petitioner shall also be entitled to consequential benefits in terms of arrears of salary for the period she has been denied on account of order impugned,” the court observed.
