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Manju Saxena v. Union of India & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 1141Decided 3 Dec 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 11766-11767 of 2018
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice Indu Malhotra

Background

The appellant worked as a Confidential Secretary at HSBC Bank for about 20 years until her post became redundant in 2005 when her superior left the bank. She was offered four alternative positions at the same pay scale but refused all of them and was also unwilling to accept the redundancy package, after which the bank terminated her services and paid compensation. She raised an industrial dispute seeking a much larger severance package; a tribunal initially ordered her reinstatement, but the Delhi High Court (both the Single Judge and Division Bench) held that her refusal of the alternative jobs amounted to "abandonment" of service, not illegal termination, though the Division Bench spared her from having to refund certain amounts already paid to her.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the finding that the appellant had voluntarily abandoned her service by refusing all four alternative positions offered on the same pay and terms, relying on precedent (Buckingham & Carnatic Co. v Venkatiah; Vijay S. Sathaye v Indian Airlines) holding that abandonment can be inferred from conduct showing an intention to abandon. Because she had abandoned service, she was not in "continuous service" under the Industrial Disputes Act, so the special retrenchment safeguards under Section 25F did not strictly apply to her (and in any case the bank had substantially complied with its notice and compensation requirements). The Court noted she had already received about Rs. 1.07 crore under various heads over the years, nearly double the Rs. 69.99 lakh severance she was claiming, and held that this amount should be treated as full and final settlement of all her claims. The civil appeals were accordingly dismissed, with the High Court's judgment modified only to confirm this final settlement, and no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

An employee who refuses reasonable alternative employment offered on the same pay and terms, instead of accepting redeployment, risks being treated by courts as having voluntarily abandoned the job, which can take the employee outside the special legal protections available to someone who has been involuntarily terminated.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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