The retirement age of Krishna Kishore Goswami, senior scientist at Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, which is run by the West Bengal government, was restored to 62 by the Calcutta High Court.
When Goswami had joined the university, he was told that his retirement age would be 62. That means, at the time of joining his retirement year was set at 2025. However, in February 2024, Goswami’s retirement age was fixed at 60 years based on an arbitrary letter from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sent in 2023.
This refixing of retirement age, as per the Calcutta HC, went against the expectations of Goswami. Additionally, it proved that the University on its own was incapable of taking any decisions regarding retirement age and was relying on the directives of ICAR.
Justice Jay Sengupta ordered that Goswami’s retirement age be restored to 62 which was what his contract had said when he took up the job.
Sengupta also ordered ICAR that Goswami be paid for two years of service or be allowed to serve his tenure. Also, ICAR was told to bear the cost of this salary.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court recently ruled that amendments to the retirement age by the University Grants Comission (UGC) or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that raise the retirement age to 65 years are not applicable to institutions affiliated to state universities. If the particular state government chooses not to adopt those regulations, the affiliated university will have to follow the retirement age followed by the state government.
