A.R.LAKSHMANAN, J. - (1.) THE appellant was appointed as Management Trainee with the respondent-company. He was confirmed as Executive Assistant in the Office of Controller of Budgets at Jamshedpur. He was transferred to in the Mines Unit in August, 1989. On 23.02.1994, he was posted to perform his duties in the Engineering Cell.
(2.) ACCORDING to the respondent herein, the appellant submitted an application on 01.04.1995 for his premature/voluntary retirement with a request to consider his case for payment of ex-gratia amount, in view of his long association with the company. The application for voluntary retirement was accepted on the same day i.e. 1 st April, 1995. ACCORDING to the appellant, he was compelled to retire prematurely and was compelled to submit application for compulsory retirement due to undue and excessive pressure, exercised by officers of the company. The appellant made request to reconsider his case sympathetically and reinstate him in service by revoking the retirement given to him and transfer him back to Jamshedpur in any suitable Department and also pay his increment for January, 1994 and January, 1995. The prayer was made to the management to consider his case sympathetically, specially because his entire settlement has been adjusted against his building loan with the result that after working for 15 years in the respondent-company, he does not know how to manage his family. The respondent by letter dated 22.06.1995 rejected the request of the appellant stating that since the appellant has resigned from service of the company from 1st April, 1995 and that his resignation has been accepted, it will not be possible to consider his case for employment in the company. The appellant raised an industrial dispute before the Labour Court under the Bihar Shops & Establishments Act contending that his resignation was not voluntary and he was forced to submit the application for premature/voluntary retirement. The preliminary issue as to the maintainability of the matter before the Labour Court was also raised which was overruled by the Labour Court. Finally, the Labour Court held that the appellant is entitled to relief of reinstatement in service with full back wages and other consequential benefits. Aggrieved by the award passed by the Labour Court, the respondent preferred Civil Writ Petition No.3802 of 1999 before the High Court of Judicature at Patna, Ranchi Bench. Learned single Judge of the said court after considering rival contentions was of the opinion that since the resignation was accepted on the same day and the complainant-appellant was relieved on the same day, the same was quite unnatural and that by itself created a doubt in the mind of the court. The learned single Judge also held that the appellant was coerced to submit his resignation letter and the same was accepted on the same day and, therefore, it was not voluntary and it will amount of illegal termination of services of the appellant.
(3.) ON being aggrieved, the respondent preferred an appeal before the Division Bench of the High Court. The Division Bench by its judgment dated 24.01.2005 allowed the appeal filed by the respondent herein. Aggrieved by the said judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court, the appellant has come before this Court by filing the Special Leave Petition No.9744/2005. Leave was granted by this Court on 24.02.2006. The appellant-in-person has argued his case. He invited our attention to various letters and correspondence that were exchanged between the appellant and the respondent-company and also drew our attention to the order passed by the Labour Court, the learned single Judge and the Division Bench. He also invited our attention to the evidence led before the Labour Court. Since the appellant is a party-in-person, we allowed him to argue this case at length and gave him a full and patient hearing. The appellant reiterated the grounds raised in the civil appeal at the time of hearing and submitted that he was summoned to Jamshedpur and compelled to submit the letter of premature/voluntary retirement.;