Bombay High Court rejects ex-BSF jawan’s application on resignation

Mumbai: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Friday rejected the application of a man seeking direction for the Border Security Force (BSF) to allow him to withdraw his resignation, which he had tendered in 2012 and declare his continuation in the service.

The division bench of Justice Vasanti Naik and Justice Swapna Joshi rejected the application filed by Rohit Tajane saying he filed the petition at a belated stage.

Mr Tajane in his petition contended that the order passed by the Assistant Commandant accepting his resignation was bad in law. He also sought a declaration that he was entitled to remain in service, in the post of head constable in the Commandant Headquarter, 9th NDRF Battalion.

Mr Tajane’s case was that he was appointed as head constable in BSF on November 2012 and completed his training and was posted in Patna (Bihar). However, he tendered his resignation saying he was not able to cope with his service in BSF and wanted to pay proper attention to his family, being the only son to his old and ailing parents. His resignation was accepted on December 21, 2012 and came into effect on December 30. However on October 19, 2013 the petitioner requested the commandant for withdrawal of the resignation but his application was rejected. He had argued that as per rule Assistant Commandant should not have accepted his resignation because only Commandant could have accepted it.

However, the bench said that the petitioner belatedly approached this court with a challenge against the order accepting the resignation. The court said the respondents answered the representation of the petitioner lastly on September 30, 2014 and he filed this petition two years thereafter. The court noted that the petitioner worked only for about a year as head constable before tendering his resignation.

“As a member of the disciplined force, the petitioner should not have decided within a year of joining the services to resign, solely on the ground that he was not able to cope with the service in the BSF,” observed the bench. “We do not find any illegality in the Assistant Commandant accepting the resignation of the petitioner,” said the bench.