Team Herald
PANJIM: The Supreme Court of India has stayed the order of the High Court of Bombay at Goa, which had directed the State government to provide pensionary benefits, including arrears, to former State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) Prashant S P Tendolkar.
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The Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice Aravind Kumar, condoned the delay and admitted the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Goa government. The Court issued notices to the respondents, returnable in six weeks.
On August 1, 2024, the High Court had directed the State government to calculate the pensionary benefits and pay the arrears to Tendolkar within three months of the order’s date.
However, the government has contested that Tendolkar was never in pensionable service, both as the Additional President of the Administrative Tribunal of Goa, Panjim, and as the State Chief Information Commissioner.
The government became alerted after former Congress president Girish Chodankar filed a complaint with Chief Secretary Dr V Candavelou, IAS, accusing Tendolkar of ‘falsely’ claiming pension benefits. In his complaint, the former Congress president called for a review of the High Court’s judgment.
