2026:BHC-AUG:1953-DB IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD WRIT PETITION NO.8565 OF 2016 Prof. Vijay S/o Ratanlal Nagori Age 50 years, Occ. Professor and Head, Department of Commerce, Smt. Dankunwar Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jalna, R/o Sukhshantinagar, Mantha Road, Jalna, Tal. & District Jalna.

...PETITIONER VERSUS

1. The State of Maharashtra. Through its Principal Secretary, Higher And Technical Education Department, Manatralaya Annex, Mumbai 32.

2. The Director of Higher Education, Maharashtra State, Central Building, Pune.

3. The Joint Director of Higher Education, Aurangabad Division, Aurangabad.

4. Smt. Dankunwar Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jalna, R/o Sukhshantinagar, Mantha Road, Jalna, Tal. & District Jalna.

Through its Principal.

...RESPONDENTS …

Dr. R.J. Godbole, Advocate for the petitioner.

Shri B.V. Virdhe, AGP for respondent Nos.1 to 3/State.

Shri M.S. Karad, Advocate for respondent No.4.

...

CORAM : KISHORE C. SANT &

SUSHIL M. GHODESWAR, JJ.

Reserved on : 06 January 2026 Pronounced on : 19 January 2026 JUDGMENT ( P er Sushil M. Ghodeswar, J.) :-

1. Heard.

2. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally with the consent of the parties.

3. By this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks directions to the respondents to step up the petitioner equivalent to his junior associate professor from the date of revision of pay/salary of junior associate professor w.e.f. 01.09.2008 as per Government Resolution dated 12.08.2009. He is also seeking direction to pay arrears of salary and other consequential benefits.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that he is working as Professor with respondent No.4 college. Another Associate Professor, namely, Dr.A.S. Nathrekar, who is junior to the petitioner and who has obtained Ph.D. degree subsequent to the petitioner, is getting higher salary w.e.f. 01.09.2008. In order to show disparity in pay scale of the petitioner and the said associate professor Dr.Nathrekar, the petitioner has relied upon the following chart:-

5. The aforesaid chart discloses that as on 01.07.2002, the petitioner was working as Reader, whereas the said Dr.Nathrekar was working as Lecturer in selection grade without Ph.D. and at the relevant time, both were getting equal salary as per 5^th Pay Commission. This position was continued upto 01.01.2006 when in pursuance of the 6^th Pay Commission, both were placed in pay scale of Rs.38530 plus Annual Grade Pay Rs. 9000 equal to 47530. Even thereafter, both were getting same salary. However, in the meantime, Dr.Nathrekar was awarded with Ph.D. on 04.04.2007. It is also clear that both were associate professors on 01.01.2006. Insofar as the petitioner is concerned, the petitioner has acquired Ph.D. degree on 13.12.2000. The petitioner was awarded as Reader on 01.07.2002 and designated as Senior Associate Professor on 01.01.2006 whereas, Dr.Nathrekar was awarded as Reader on 04.04.2007 and designated as Associate Professor on 04.04.2010. The petitioner was given Professor Selection Grade on 15.02.2013 in scale of Rs.37400-67000 GP 10000/- and Dr.Nathrekar was granted Professor Selection Grade w.e.f. 18.11.2019. However, as per the 7^th Pay Revised Pay w.e.f. 01.01.2016, the petitioner is placed in pay scale of Rs.162300/- whereas, Dr.Nathrekar is placed in pay scale of Rs.1,81,800/-.

6. According to the petitioner, the aforesaid disparity is due to wrong assessment of his pay scale and he ought to have been given same benefit, which was extended to Dr.Nathrekar, who has acquired Ph.D. qualification subsequent to him. The petitioner had approached the authorities by preferring representations dated 20.04.2016, 27.04.2016 and 06.05.2016 requesting to remove anomalies in salaries. However, no decision is taken on the said representations, therefore, the petitioner has filed this petition. The petitioner has placed reliance upon Note-5 and Note-6 in Appendix-I of the Government Resolution dated 12.08.2009 issued by the Governme