Bombay High Court
DR. RAGHUNANDAN B NIKAMversusTHE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THR THE SECRETARY AND ORS
- Decided
- Disposal
- Disposed Off
Holding
The court disposed of the writ petition without further orders, noting that the representations will be considered by the municipal corporation and making no observations on the merits.
Summary
Dr. Raghunandan B. Nikam retired on 31 December 2017 at age 60 and petitioned the Bombay High Court for a direction to the State of Maharashtra and Thane Municipal Corporation to pay his pension of Rs. 23,375 and gratuity of Rs. 7,00,000 based on his basic pay. He relied on a Division Bench decision in Dr. Prakash Borulkar v. State of Maharashtra which held that service between ages 58 and 60 must be counted for pension and other retiral benefits. The writ petition was initially allowed, restraining the municipal corporation from recovering any amount from his pension. The petitioner later made two representations to the corporation, which he claimed were not considered. The corporation assured that the representations would be considered, and the court, noting this, disposed of the remaining prayers without addressing the merits.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to pension and gratuity calculated on the basis of his basic pay including service up to age 60.
- Whether the representations made by the petitioner to Thane Municipal Corporation must be considered before any further orders.
- Whether the writ petition should be disposed without further adjudication on the merits.
Subjects
- pension
- gratuity
- retirement benefits
- writ petition
- municipal corporation
- service computation
- age 60
Judgment
12-WP-14599-23.doc
Sharayu Khot.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO. 14599 OF 2023
Dr. Raghunandan B. Nikam …Petitioner
Versus
The State of Maharashtra & Ors. …Respondents
----------
Mr. S.S. Borulkar for the Petitioner.
Mr. S.H. Kankal, AGP for the Respondent-State.
Mr. Jagdish G. Aradwad (Reddy) for the Respondent Nos. 3, 4 and 5.
----------
CORAM : R.I. CHAGLA J
ADVAIT M. SETHNA, J
DATE : 28 January 2026
ORDER :
1. By this Writ Petition, the Petitioner has sought a direction
to the Respondents to pay the pension and other retiral benefits on
the basis of his basic pay upon his retirement on 31st December 2017
SHARAYU
i.e. 60 years of age, amounting to Rs. 23,375/- as basic pension,
PANDURANG
KHOT
gratuity to the sum of Rs. 7,00,000/- as per last drawn salary of 31st
Digitally
signed by
SHARAYU
PANDURANG
KHOT
Date:
December 2017 annexed at Exhibit “D” to the Petition. As also to
2026.02.02
10:55:04
+0530
direct the Respondents to pay the recovered amount as per his
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12-WP-14599-23.doc
retirement age of 60 years.
2. The learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that after
the passing of the order dated 1st July 2022, which is annexed at
Exhibit “F” to the Petition and which the Petitioner has sought to
quash and set aside, a Division Bench of this Court, in another case,
namely Dr. Prakash Borulkar Vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors.1, by
order dated 20th September 2022, held that the additional two years
of service between the ages of 58 and 60 shall be reckoned as part of
the total service rendered by the Petitioner therein from the date of
appointment till the date of superannuation on completion of 60
years of age, on 31st December 2018. This is for the purpose of
computing pension as well as other retiral benefits, including
gratuity.
3. The said Writ Petition was allowed. Accordingly, there
was an order restraining the Thane Municipal Corporation to recover
amount from the Petitioner’s pension.
4. Thereafter, in light of the said order dated 20th
September 2022, the Petitioner made two representations to the
1 Writ Petition No. 6004 of 2021
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12-WP-14599-23.doc
Thane Municipal Corporation on 27th October 2022 and 1st July
2023.
5. Learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioner submits
that the said representations have not been considered by the Thane
Municipal Corporation and has therefore sought consideration of the
said representations.
6. Learned Counsel appearing for the Respondent Nos. 3
and 4 – Thane Municipal Corporation states that the representations
dated 27th October 2022 and 1st July 2023 of the Petitioner will be
considered by the Thane Municipal Corporation in accordance with
law. This statement is accepted.
7. In view of the above statement, the remaining prayers
made in the Writ Petition are not required to be gone into at this
stage, and the Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. There shall be
no order as to costs.
8. We clarify that we have not made any observations on
the merits of the Petition.
[ADVAIT M. SETHNA, J.] [R.I. CHAGLA J.]
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