The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to immediately strip Pune Deputy Director of Education Ganpat More of his post and grant a retired college lecturer her terminal benefits under the Old Pension Scheme.
A division bench comprising Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Neela Gokhale pulled up the education official for persistent defiance of legal mandates, describing his handling of the educator’s pension claim as an arbitrary exercise of power and unwarranted harassment of an elderly citizen. The court instructed the Secretary of the School Education and Sports Department at Mantralaya to reassign More’s charge to a competent replacement without delay.
High Court Condemns Officer’s Conduct
The directive came during hearings on a petition filed by Premlata Suresh Gore, a former lecturer at Abasaheb Garware College in Pune. The judges observed that the incumbent deputy director had demonstrated an absence of empathy, conscience, and public accountability when handling retirement entitlements for senior citizens.
According to the bench, the official’s actions amounted to an abuse of administrative authority that repeatedly forced school staff into avoidable litigation. Noting that More had a pattern of issuing arbitrary decisions that were subsequently struck down or retracted, the court concluded that an officer acting in blatant disregard of judicial directives and statutory provisions was unfit to occupy a senior public office.
Decades of Service in Aided College
Gore entered service on June 20, 1992, as a part-time teacher on an aided post at the Pune institution. She served in that capacity for 18 years before transitioning to a full-time, fully aided lecturer post on July 1, 2010. She subsequently retired on January 31, 2022, completing nearly three decades of service.
Following her superannuation, Gore sought pensionary entitlements under the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1982. Her petition contended that her part-time tenure between 1992 and 2010 ought to be factored into her qualifying service period to meet the requisite 30-year pension threshold.
Repeated Rejections by Education Department
The Pune education administration initially denied Gore’s application on the grounds that her full-time appointment took effect in 2010, past the state’s November 1, 2005 cut-off deadline for the Old Pension Scheme. Authorities maintained that she fell strictly under the Defined Contribution Pension Scheme, also known as the National Pension System.
Gore previously contested the denial before the High Court, which in July 2025 instructed the regional education directorate to re-evaluate her entitlement in accordance with a full-bench judgment governing aided school employees.
Despite the judicial directive, More issued an order on October 30, 2025, turning down her claim a second time on identical grounds. The High Court reviewed that decision during the latest proceedings, characterizing the October order as a mechanical and unlawful refusal that failed to implement its earlier mandate.
Advocate Kumud Bhatia represented Gore before the bench, successfully arguing that her continuous aided part-time tenure entitled her to full retirement coverage under the 1982 pension framework.
