Date of Civil Death is Presumed After 7 Years, Not Date of Missing; SC Sets Aside Compassionate Appointment Order

The Supreme Court of India, in a judgment dated October 29, 2025, has set aside an order of the High Court that directed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to grant a compassionate appointment. The apex court held that under Section 108 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, a person missing for seven years is presumed dead only after the expiry of that period, not on the date they first went missing, unless a specific date of death is proven with evidence.

The bench, comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Prasanna B. Varale , allowed the appeal filed by the Commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation. The central legal issue was whether a compassionate appointment could be claimed based on a “civil death” when the employee had already retired during the seven-year period he was missi