The Hindu : National : VRS offer can be withdrawn before acceptance

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VRS offer can be withdrawn before acceptance

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: It will be open to an employee submitting his application for retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to withdraw the same before its acceptance, the Supreme Court has held. In such a case the revocation of the offer is complete and the employer cannot act upon that offer, said a Bench of Justices A.K. Mathur and Markandey Katju.

In the instant case, the Food Corporation of India floated a VRS in June 2002 and one of the clauses specifically said: “Once an employee submits his application for voluntary retirement under the scheme to the competent authority, it shall be treated as final and it is not open to the employee to withdraw the same.” Ramesh Kumar and two others submitted applications to avail themselves of the VRS but withdrew the offer before it was accepted. However, the FCI accepted the applications and they were superannuated under the VRS. The Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the FCI’s orders. The present appeals by the FCI are directed against this judgment.

Dismissing the appeals, the Bench said, “The present scheme of the FCI clearly stipulates that the incumbent has no right to revoke the same and the management will decide the same within three months. That means the management still has three months time to consider and decide whether to act upon the offer given by the incumbent or not. But if the incumbent revokes his offer before the Corporation accepts it then in that case, the revocation of the offer is complete and the Corporation cannot act upon that offer.”

The Bench said that in the present case it was clear that the incumbents had given applications for voluntary retirement and they had revoked their offers before the same was accepted. The Judges noted the Corporation had accepted their voluntary retirement after the revocation was made. In view of the law laid down by the apex court, the Corporation could not do so, the Bench said. “The approach of the High Court appears to be correct and does not require any interference,” the Bench said, and held that the Corporation could not act upon the applications for voluntary retirement.

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