Employer’s Pay Fixation Error Cannot Burden Retired Class III Employee of University
Judgment dated 11.9.2026 of the High Court of Bombay in Writ Petition No.14168 of 2024 of Shrinivas Ganesh Kuokarni Vs. Savitribai Phule Pune University and others.
On 7.6.1993, the petitioner was appointed as Data Entry Operator in the respondent no.1 SP Pune University. On 26.9.1994, the fresh appointment on permanent basis was issued.
On 31.12.2022, the petitioner had retired from the service of the University due to superannuation.
The petitioner Class III Employee has challenged the notice dated 17.4.2023 of the University for recovery of Rs.39,94,343/- as excess payment on account of error in pay fixation.
The petitioner was not paid post retiral benefits such as gratuity, earned leave encashment, arrears of 7th pay commission and accrued interest of Provident Fund amount.
We are also of the view that the letter dated 17th April 2023 in the present case seeking to recover the alleged excess amount from the Petitioner has been issued post the retirement of the Petitioner, i.e., on 31st December 2022. This, to our mind, also strengthens the case of the Petitioner that an amount which has already been paid to the Petitioner cannot now be recovered from the Petitioner on the ground of a mistake on the part of the employer. Further, it is not disputed before us that the Petitioner is a Class III employee, and hence the decisions in Rafiq Masih (supra) and Anil Pralhad Dhande (supra) would completely cover the facts of the present case. Even otherwise for recovery of such amounts even a civil suit was hopelessly time barred.
Considering the aforesaid factual and legal backdrop, we are of the opinion that it would be illegal and arbitrary to recover the amount of Rs.39,94,343/- from the Petitioner’s retiral benefits, more so when the Petitioner is a Class III employee. In view thereof, we are of the view that this Writ Petition deserves to succeed, and the illegal recovery made by Respondent No. 1-University deserves to be set aside. We therefore pass the following order which will meet the ends of justice.
