Kochi: The Kerala High Court has ruled that an employer must accept an employee’s resignation in accordance with the terms of the employment contract, and a refusal to do so would amount to bonded labour, which isprohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution.
The observation came while granting relief to a company secretary of a public sector undertaking (PSU) who was not being allowed to resign. Justice N. Nagaresh stated that in the absence of any violation of the notice period or other contractual conditions, an employer cannot refuse to accept a resignation, except in cases where disciplinary proceedings are contemplated for grave misconduct or for causing monetary loss to the establishment.
“In any other circumstance, if the employer refuses to accept the resignation of an employee, it would amount to bonded labour,” the court said.
The order arose from a plea filed by the company secretary challenging the show-cause notices and memos issued by the PSU directing him to resume duty after he had tendered his resignation. The PSU had rejected his resignation, citing financial constraints, and asked him to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him.
The court noted that financial difficulties or emergencies cannot compel an employee to work against his will. “The disciplinary proceedings contemplated against the petitioner can only be seen as an attempt by the respondents to violate the petitioner’s right to resign from service,” it said.
It also highlighted that the PSU had defaulted on salary payments to the petitioner since October 2022. The court observed that the petitioner had resigned after the death of his father in 2020, leaving behind his mother, who had been suffering from neurological and psychiatric ailments for several years. “The petitioner, therefore, had no other option but to search for another job,” the court noted.
The court further pointed out that the petitioner was unable to secure alternative employment until the PSU sent a request to the Registrar of Companies to de-link his membership from the company.
Directing the PSU to accept the resignation, the court ordered that the petitioner be relieved from service “as expeditiously as possible and at any rate within a period of two months” and that arrears of salary, leave surrender benefits, and other terminal benefits be paid. The court added that the payments should be made promptly, subject to the financial position of the PSU.
With PTI inputs