Resignations and non-acceptance

In recent years, there have been many instances where top officials have chosen to resign, often in view of political interference, followed by the relevant minister rushing to the media saying he or she refuses to accept the resignation.

However, there has been a gap in reporting in these issues on whether a resignation is legally valid if it is not accepted.

The Sunday Times learns that in the public service, the accepted norms in a person leaving the service is the act of an ‘offer and acceptance’ (two letters). That means a letter of resignation is followed by a letter of acceptance from the appointing authority.

Some retired public sector officials argue that the absence of a letter of acceptance does not deprive a person from carrying out his or her wish to resign. “If you wish to resign, I believe you have the right whether the letter of resignation is accepted or not unless, of course, there are other issues like loans borrowed from the office which need to be settled, etc,” one former official said.

There is also a case sometimes cited as case law on resignations of public officials and that was the instance when the late Richard Pathirana, a former minister, sent his letter of resignation from his post as a government teacher to contest an election. He then proceeded to contest the election and won. However, he was ousted by the Supreme Court in an election petition as the court took the view that at the time of his nomination, his letter of resignation had not been accepted by the appointing authority through a letter of acceptance.