Delhi Technological University v. B.S. Rawat
Background
B.S. Rawat, an Assistant Registrar at Delhi Technological University (DTU), tendered his resignation in 2016, which was accepted by an officer holding only additional charge of Vice-Chancellor, not the Board of Management (BOM), the actual competent authority. Rawat took his relieving certificates, then four months later sought to withdraw the resignation, claiming it was never validly accepted. Meanwhile, after joining National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, he tried to resign there too but sought to withdraw that resignation as well after being selected for a different job, and NIT Calicut refused. Two sets of litigation followed in the Delhi and Kerala High Courts, both eventually reaching the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that although the officer who accepted Rawat's DTU resignation lacked authority, the BOM's subsequent ratification of that acceptance validated it retrospectively, relating back to the original date, meaning there was no resignation left for Rawat to withdraw four months later. The Court also invoked the principle that Rawat, having taken all benefits of his exit (relieving order, no-dues certificate, experience certificate) and used that certificate to secure a new job at NIT Calicut, could not later treat his own resignation as a nullity. On the NIT Calicut matter, the Court held that under the applicable service rules, a resignation takes effect upon acceptance by the competent authority (not upon expiry of the notice period or communication), and the employer's discretion to refuse a late withdrawal request was lawfully exercised since Rawat's own resignation letter had stated he was "not interested to work anymore."
Lesson Learnt
An employee cannot benefit from an exit (certificates, relief from duties, using it to get a new job) and then later claim, when convenient, that the same resignation was never valid. The law will not let a person "have his cake and eat it too." Once a competent authority ratifies an earlier unauthorised acceptance of resignation, the ratification is treated as valid from the original date, closing the door on a later withdrawal request.