ANALA PANDIT Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. The contesting Respondents No.1 and 2 have filed an Affidavit in Reply. By consent, Rule made returnable forthwith.

(2.) At the end of her career, the Petitioner is forced by her own employer, the State Government, to run from pillar to post for what is rightfully hers. The government puts her through the wringer. It traps her in a maze of legal proceedings. And it does this to deny the Petitioner her legitimate retiral benefits. In acting as it does, the State Government blithely ignores precedent after binding precedent - to all of which the State is itself a party. We refuse to countenance this conduct.

(3.) The Petitioner is qualified as M.Sc. (Physics) with specialization in Electronics, M.Sc. Electrical Engineering from University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. She has completed her Doctorate in 2014 also from the same University. The Mumbai University has recognized the qualifications of the Petitioner obtained from University of Louisville as equivalent to that of Mumbai University. The Respondents No.1 and 2 are Departments of Higher and Technical Education of the State. The 3rd Respondent is the Mumbai University, and the 4th Respondent is the Institute of which the Petitioner was an employee till she superannuated. Prior to her regular appointment, the Petitioner was a visiting Faculty in the 4th Respondent Institute since August 1995 and continued teaching in the Institute on a contractual basis in October 1996.