Employer Must Verify Voluntariness Of Employee's Resignation If Letter Mentions 'Threat Or Pressure': Chhattisgarh High Court
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that where a resignation letter itself expressly states that it is being tendered under "threat" or "pressure", the employer is under an obligation to verify whether the resignation is voluntary before accepting it. The Court observed that acceptance of such a resignation without any inquiry into its voluntariness renders the acceptance legally...
The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that where a resignation letter itself expressly states that it is being tendered under "threat" or "pressure", the employer is under an obligation to verify whether the resignation is voluntary before accepting it. The Court observed that acceptance of such a resignation without any inquiry into its voluntariness renders the acceptance legally unsustainable, and subsequent denials by the persons accused of exerting pressure cannot cure that initial failure.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal was hearing an intra-court appeal filed by Chouksey Engineering College challenging the order of the Single Judge setting aside the acceptance of the resignation of an Assistant Professor. The employee had contended that although he submitted his resignation on 21 September 2020, the resignation was not voluntary as it had been tendered under threat and pressure allegedly exerted by two colleagues. The Single Judge had quashed the acceptance of the resignation and directed his reinstatement with arrears of salary and consequential service benefits, prompting the present appeal by the College.
The appellant-College argued that the resignation had been voluntarily tendered and was accepted by the competent authority in accordance with the applicable rules. It contended that there was no material establishing coercion, that the allegations against the two colleagues had been specifically denied by them through affidavits, and that there is no legal requirement to conduct an inquiry before accepting a resignation voluntarily submitted by an employee.
The Court found that the resignation letter expressly recorded that it was being submitted under threat and pressure from two named colleagues. In such circumstances, it held that the Management was required to satisfy itself regarding the voluntariness of the resignation before accepting it.
“… the Management was required to satisfy itself regarding the voluntariness of the resignation before accepting the same. Admittedly, no inquiry or verification was undertaken… The subsequent denial by the concerned colleagues through affidavits cannot cure the failure of the appellant to examine the circumstances existing at the time of acceptance of the resignation,” the Court observed.
Holding that the learned Single Judge had correctly concluded that the resignation was not voluntary, the Division Bench found no legal or factual error warranting interference in appeal. It observed that once the acceptance of the resignation was declared invalid, the consequential directions for reinstatement and grant of service benefits naturally followed.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed the writ appeal.
Case Title: Chouksey Engineering College v. Ashish Kumar Khandelwal & Ors. [WA No. 592 of 2026]