The Supreme Court has asked Konkan Railway to reinstate a railway employee who withdrew his resignation after putting down his papers, which the public sector carrier was unwilling to concede on the ground that his quitting had been accepted.

The court held that since the employee, S.D. Manohara, had withdrawn his resignation before the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited communicated its acceptance of the resignation officially, it was bound to reinstate the employee. “In the facts and circumstances of the case, we direct that the appellant shall be reinstated into service within 30 days from the date of our order. He shall be entitled to receive 50 per cent of salary for the period he is said to have been relieved from service i.e. from 01.07.2014 under letter dated 23.06.2014 to the date of reinstatement, pursuant to our orders.

"The amount shall be calculated and paid within two months from today. This period shall, however, be counted for pensionary benefits, if any,” a bench of Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Pankaj Mithal observed.

Manohar, who had been with the railways since 1990, had tendered his resignation on December 5, 2013, stating that it may be considered as coming into effect on expiry of one month. But his subsequent withdrawal was not accepted by the railways.

In the court, the railways argued that the resignation was accepted on April 15, 2014, with effect from April 7, 2014, and Manohara had sought to withdraw it only on May 26, 2014, therefore, it was rejected on June 23, 2014. However, the employee said that the railways' letter accepting his resignation was an internal communication and not marked to him.