Mumbai: In a reprieve for academician Shoma Sen, arrested for her alleged role in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, the Bombay High Court has ordered the Nagpur University to release Rs five lakh, towards her retirement benefits.
A bench of Justices Ravi Deshpande and Nitin Suryawanshi was dealing with a plea filed by Sen, who is arrested and lodged in jail since 2018.
Sen has been accused of having links with the banned CPI (Maoist) outfit. She has also been accused of plotting to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The head of English department (HoD), Nagpur University, Sen retired from services in July 2018 and did not receive gratuity and provident fund benefits. The varsity had withheld the benefits after Sen was arrested in June 2018.
Having been petitioned, the judges noted that the varsity did not put forth a satisfactory explanation for not releasing the funds.
"In the meantime, we direct the university to pay an amount of Rs 5 lakh to Sen within a period of one week, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the parties. This shall be subject to further adjustment upon final adjudication," the bench said in its interim order.
