Bombay High Court Rules Resignation Qualifies As Retirement, Grants Pension To Former Judge Pushpa Ganediwala

Contents

Key Highlights of the Judgment

Resignation Equals Retirement for Pension Benefits: The Bombay High Court ruled that resignation from office by a former High Court judge qualifies as “retirement” under the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Services) Act, 1954, making the individual eligible for pensionary benefits.
Justice Pushpa Ganediwala Granted Pension: The Court allowed Justice Pushpa Ganediwala’s plea, overturning an earlier decision by the High Court Registrar that had denied her pension.

Voluntary Resignation in 2022: Justice Pushpa Ganediwala voluntarily resigned in February 2022 after her tenure as an Additional Judge was not confirmed by the Supreme Court Collegium due to controversial POCSO rulings.
Infamous Skin-to-Skin Judgment: The decision was influenced by her January 2021 ruling, which acquitted an accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) based on a “skin-to-skin” contact interpretation.
Registrar’s Rejection of Pension Claim: After her resignation, Ganediwala applied for pension benefits for her 14+ years of judicial service as a District Judge and Additional High Court Judge. However, in November 2022, the Registrar of the Bombay High Court denied her pension, stating that resignation does not constitute retirement under the 1954 Act.

Broad Definition of ‘Retirement’ Includes Resignation: The Court emphasized that retirement is a broad term that includes resignation, as per its dictionary meaning.
Equal Treatment for Judges Who Resigned: It was noted that five other former judges who had resigned were already receiving pensions. The Court found no justification for treating Ganediwala differently.
Legislative Intent Supports Pension Grant: The Court stated that had the legislature intended to restrict pension benefits only to judges who retired on superannuation, it would have expressly mentioned it in the law.
Judgment Quote on Retirement and Resignation:
“The resignation as well as the retirement, both result in the conclusion of the service career. In fact, the resignation is one of the modes of retirement from service and is a voluntary act,” the Court ruled.
Pension to be Granted with Interest:
- The Registrar’s order dated November 2, 2022, was quashed.
- Justice Ganediwala was granted pension benefits effective from February 14, 2022.
- The respondents were directed to process pension payments within two months along with an interest rate of 6% per annum.

For Justice Pushpa Ganediwala:
- Senior Advocates Sunil Manohar and Nikhil Sakhardande
- Advocates Pralhad Paranjape, Ankit B. Rathod, Onkar Bajaj, Atharva S. Manohar
- Instructed by Advocate Anshu Agrawal
For Bombay High Court Administration:
- Senior Advocate Virendra Tulzapurkar
- Advocate Rahul Nerlekar
For the State of Maharashtra:
- Government Pleader Neha S. Bhide
- Additional Government Pleaders O.A. Chandurkar and G.R. Raghuwanshi