Mumbai: In a setback for Dr Nishigandha Naik, the daughter of veteran BJP leader Ram Naik, the Bombay High Court on Friday dismissed her plea challenging her retirement at the age of 58 as the in-charge director of the Haffkine institute and research centre. The HC accepted the contention of the Maharashtra government and upheld its decision to retire her in January 2014, when she was 58 years old.
A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Makarand Karnik was moved by Naik, who was initially appointed as an assistant director in the institute, which is indulged in research work for over 120 years. She claimed that her actual retirement would be in January 2024.
According to Naik, she was shocked to see her pay slip in the first week of January 2014, which showed her retirement due on January 31, 2014. She accordingly claimed that her retirement would be when she turns 62 and that would be in January 2024.
To buttress her contention, Naik relied upon a recommendation made by the governing council of the institute. She highlighted the fact that the governing council is led by the state's minister of medical education and also that the institute gets aids from the government.
As per the recommendation, cited by Naik, the governing council had enhanced the retirement age from 58 to 62.
Naik's contentions were vehemently opposed by government pleader Purnima Kantharia, who told the bench that even if the governing council was led by the minister of medical education, the same required approval from the government. “In this case, the recommendation given by the council has not yet received any approval from the government and, thus, the retirement age continues to be 58,” Kantharia had argued.
The government pleader further highlighted that the enhanced age would make an adverse impact on the finance of the state exchequer.
The bench, having heard the contentions, accepted the government's arguments and accordingly dismissed Naik's plea.
