JUDGMENT :

M.S. Karnik, J.

Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith by consent of the parties. Learned Counsel waives service for Respondents.

2. Invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the Petitioner is seeking a declaration that the Recruitment Rules, 2015 of the Respondent No. 2 -Haffkine Institute for Training Research and Testing (hereinafter referred to as “the Institute” for short) are binding on the Respondent No. 1 – State of Maharashtra. As a consequence of this declaration, the Petitioner prays that the age of superannuation of the Petitioner for the post of ‘Assistant Director’ would be 62 years and not 58 years as is being applied in the Petitioner’s case. The Petitioner prays for setting aside the letter dated 30 January 2020 of Respondent No.1 rejecting the request for change in retirement age of Assistant Director’s post from 58 years to 62 years.

The brief facts are thus :

3. The Petitioner possesses Post Graduate degree in M.Sc. (Microbiology) and Doctoral Degree of Ph.D. in Applied Biology. She is a Young Scientist Awardee of Indian National Science Academy. The Petitioner has a post-doctoral experience for two years as an Awardee of Long Term Overseas Fellowship of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India for the first year and as an Awardee of Marie Curie Fellowship for the second year which was awarded jointly by European Commission and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The Petitioner has more than thirty years of research work experience that includes academia as well as industry. Her work is published in international journals and has several international patents to her credit. She has been felicitated by national and international awards. She has worked in the field of cancer cell biology, imaging and pre-clinical drug discovery. The Petitioner’s research is focused on cell motility related signal transduction events and development of therapeutic approaches for cancer, especially chronic myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, gliablastoma and neural stem cells. She is also involved in research on tuberculosis, venom and anti-venom. She is working as Principal Investigator on the projects to establish “National Venom Research Centre” and “Regional Coordination Centre for Prevention and Control of Zoonotic Diseases” which are funded by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. During the period from 1988-2007, she was associated with Cancer Research Institute of the Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai as Scientific Officer. For the period 2007 till 2013 the Petitioner was associated with Piramal Enterprises Ltd. Mumbai as Senior Group Leader and Head of Imaging & Cancer Biology Section.

4. In the year 2013, the Respondent No.2 – Institute issued a Notification that the posts in Group “A” and “B” category will be filled on contract basis and invited applications by its advertisement dated 5 February 2013. The Petitioner was interviewed on 12 February 2013. The Petitioner was selected and appointed as an “Assistant Director” as per office Order No.43 of 2013 dated 1 April 2013 on the recommendation of Selection Committed appointed for the interview on contract basis for a period of one year from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014. Thereafter, by an order dated 6 May 2014, the Petitioner was again appointed as an Assistant Director on contract basis for a further period of 1 year from 15 April 2014 to 14 April 2015.

5. On 26 March 2015, an advertisement was published by the Institute for the recruitment of Group “A” and “B” posts of Assistant Director, Senior Scientific Officer, Scientific Secretary, Librarian and Scientific Officer (handicap), etc. on regular basis. The Selection Committee on the basis of the interview recommended the Petitioner for an appointment as Assistant Director.

6. On 13/04/2015, the petitioner was appointed as an Assistant Director on permanent basis.

7. The Petitioner made an application to the University o