DR. HEMALATHA MUTHULINGOM Vs. THE UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard. Rule (in all petitions. Rule (in all petitions is made returnable forthwith. The learned counsel Mr. S. S. Pakale, waives service of notice for Respondent No. 1 and 4; the learned counsel Mr. P. M. Palshikar waives service of notice for Respondent No. 2; the learned counsel Mr. Rui Rodrigues waives service of notice for Respondent No.3, in all the writ petitions. By consent of parties, all the petitions are taken up for final hearing.

(2.) The question that arises for consideration in these petitions is, as to whether the Petitioners are entitled to be continued in their respective posts with Respondent No. 1 till their superannuation, having been in service since 22.1.2009, in the case of Dr. Hemalatha Muthulingom (Petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1647 of 2017 and 1.1.2010 in the case of Dr. Gargi Shaw (Petitioner in Writ Petition No. 1034 of 2017. The main grievance of the Petitioners is that having put in long years of service and being part of the Centre for Excellence, which helped development of Respondent No. 1 Centre in all these years, could the Petitioners be told that their services would no longer continue and that they should now apply for appointment in the Respondent No. 1 Centre in pursuance of advertisement, inviting applications for all the posts in the faculty of Respondent No. 1. In other words, whether the Petitioners are entitled to the posts held by them in the Respondent No. 1 Centre, and whether they were entitled to continue as if they were permanent employees with Respondent No. 1 Centre.

(3.) Respondent No. 1 i.e. Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences was established by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India and the University of Mumbai for which a Memorandum of Understanding dated 27.3.2007 was executed. A Memorandum of Association was also executed between the said two parties with the objective of establishing a brand institution in the field of Basic Sciences, in which high quality undergraduate training embodied in a Post Graduate Research environment would be created, with strong linkages to existing National Research Institutes like BARC, TIFR, IIT and other institutes for providing an innovative and flexible five years integrated course after Higher Secondary Certificate or equivalent examination.