Bhima Koregaon Case: Maharashtra Govt, Nagpur University Told to Pay Rs 5 Lakh Each to Shoma Sen

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government and the Nagpur University (RTMNU) to pay Rs 5 lakh each to former professor Shoma Sen, who is an accused in the Koregaon Bhima-Elgar Parishad case, as part of her gratuity and provident fund. Sen, who is presently in jail, had approached the high court claiming that the Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University withheld her gratuity and PF since her retirement in 2018.

The high court had earlier this month directed the varsity to pay a sum of Rs five lakh to Sen as an interim arrangement. The RTMNU, however, filed an application seeking to deposit the sum with the court’s Registry instead of paying it directly to Sen.

While hearing applications of RTMNU and Sen on Friday, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ravi Deshpande noted that the varsity had dragged its feet in processing the pension papers of Sen.

“It is most unfortunate that during these testing times, a retired teacher has been left to fend for herself without the University taking adequate care and interest to clear her dues,” the court said. Sen’s advocate Prakash Meghe told the court that she was entitled to a sum of Rs 14 lakh as part of her gratuity.

The bench dismissed the application filed by the RTMNU seeking to deposit the money with the Registry of the court.

“We direct the University to pay the sum of Rs 5,00,000 to the petitioner within a week,” the court ordered.

The bench also directed the Maharashtra government to release an additional sum of Rs 5 lakh in favour of Sen on ad hoc basis within a month, and noted that Sen was entitled to a higher amount on account of gratuity and provident fund. “The University shall process all papers and forward the same to the government within one week whereupon the concerned department of the State shall take necessary steps,” the order said.

Sen was employed as head of post-graduate department of English and retired in July 2018. In June 2018, the university had suspended her from service following her arrest and withheld all her retirement benefits.