The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed Nagpur University to pay a sum of ₹5 lakh to professor Shoma Sen, the former head of its English department, towards her retirement benefits within a week.
A Division Bench of Justices R.K. Deshpande and N.B. Suryawanshi was hearing a petition filed by Ms. Sen’s husband, Tushar Bhattacharya, through advocate Prakash Meghe. The plea was filed on behalf of Ms. Sen, who is lodged at Byculla women’s prison since her arrest on June 6, 2018, for her alleged involvement in the Bhima-Koregaon case.
‘Eligible for pension’
The plea said the university had to pay Ms. Sen’s gratuity and Provident Fund (PF) after she retired on July 31, 2018. The plea also said Ms. Sen was eligible for pension after 20 years of employment and she had completed 31 years of service.
On August 12, a day before the matter came up for hearing before the Bench, the university issued orders directing the payment of provisional pension to Ms. Sen. Earlier, the varsity took a stand that benefits cannot be released to the professor owing to the criminal charges filed against her under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The Maharashtra government has maintained that the university being the employer is responsible for releasing retirement benefits to Ms. Sen.
The Bench said it is prima facie not satisfied with the explanation given by the authorities for withholding the PF amount. “We do not find any reference in the reply filed by the university to the denial of PF and gratuity to Ms. Sen. The university accepts that the Payment of Gratuity Act is applicable to Ms. Sen and this is what is stated in the order.”
‘No help from varsity’
The Bench said it fails to understand why the university waited for two years after Ms. Sen’s retirement to pass an order on the release of her provisional pension. It said, “We fail to get any assistance from the university on the provision of law.”
The court posted the petition for further hearing after four weeks.
