Recently on Friday, 11th August 2023, the Kerala High Court issued a significant decision that sheds light on the procedural complexities of voluntary retirement and the withdrawal of the application for voluntary retirement by the employee.

The case was ruled over by Justices Alexander Thomas and C. Jayachandran, who stressed the significance of adhering to statutory rules when accepting applications for voluntary retirement.

Faziludeen (Petitioner), a senior accountant who had applied for voluntary retirement on medical grounds. The central issue of controversy was the withdrawal of this application and the authorities' subsequent acceptance of the retirement request.

The petitioner submitted the initial application on 07th October, and then tried to withdraw it the following day. The authorities, however, accepted the application, compelling the petitioner's retirement from duty with retroactive effect from the date of application. The petitioner's subsequent attempts to withdraw the retirement request were denied, prompting the legal challenge.

The judgment, states, “An application for voluntary retirement tendered by an employee is claimed to have been accepted in a lightning speed by the employer, so that withdrawal of the same tendered on the very next day could not be acted upon. The nuances of withdrawing an application for voluntary retirement before acceptance, in the backdrop of the relevant rules is the issue involved in this Original Petition.”

The court examined Rule 48-A of the CCS (Pension) Rules, which govern voluntary retirement, and emphasized the necessity of complying to the three-month notice period.