Resignation - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition resignation

Definition :

Resignation, implies that the party resigning has been elected to the office which he resigns: a man cannot 'resign' that which he is not entitled to, Stroud's Judicial Dictionary, Vol. 3, p. 2299.

Resignation, is a term of legal art having legal connotations which describe certain legal results. It is characteristically, the voluntary surrender of a position by the person on resigning, made freely and not under duress and the word is generally defined as an act of resigning or giving up, as a claim, possession or position, Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol. 77, p. 311.

Resignation, must be unconditional and with an intention to operate as such, Words and Phrases (Permanent Edition) Vol. 37, p. 476.

Means the spontaneous relinquishment of one's own right as conveyed by the maxim. Resignatio est juris propril spontanea refutatio, Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edn.

Resignation, must be made with intention of relinquishment the office accompanied by act of relinquishment, Prabha Aarti v. State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 2003 SC 584.

Resignation, the giving up a claim, office, or possession; also, the yielding up a benefice into the hands of the ordinary, called by the canonists 'renunciation'; and though it is synonymous with surrender, yet it is by use restrained to yielding up a spiritual living to the bishop, as surrender is the giving up of temporal land into the hands of the lord.

The act or an instance of surrendering or relin-quishing an office, right, or claim, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1311.

Ecclesiastical Resignations.--By the (English) Incumbents Resignation Act, 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 44), as amended by 50 & 51 Vict. c. 23, and see (English) Clergy Pensions Measure (16 & 17 Geo. 5), No. 5, and (English) Church Assembly Measure (20 & 21 Geo. 5), No. 6, provision is made for enabling the incumbent of any benefice, provided he has been the incumbent of such benefice for seven years continuously, to resign on the ground of incapacity by permanent mental or bodily infirmity from the due performance of his duties, and to obtain a pension.

The resignation of infirm archbishops or bishops is provided for by 32 & 33 Vict. c. 111. A pension is provided (see Episcopal Pensions Measure, 1926).

The resignation of deans and canons is provided for by the (English) Deans and Canons Resignation Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 8), repealed and replaced by the (English) Clergy Pensions Measure (1&17 Geo. 5), No. 6.

A covenant to resign a living on request, given to the patron before and in consideration of presentation thereto, was formerly simoniacal, and, therefore, illegal, see Fletcher v. Lord Sondes, (1827) 3 Bing 501, but by the (English) Clergy Bonds Resignation

Act, 1828 (9 Geo. 4, c. 94) [repealed, see Church Assembly Measure (14 & 15 Geo. 5), No. 1], every engagement for the resignation of any living 'to the intent, manifested by the engagement, that any one person whatsoever, specially named therein, or one or (sic) two persons specially named, each of them by blood or marriage, on uncle son, grandson, brother, nephew, or grand-nephew of the patron, shall be presented' to the living was made valid.

Resignation of Judge.--The office of a judge of the High Court of Justice, or of the Court of Appeal, may be vacated by resignation in writing under his hand, addressed to the Lord Chancellor, without any deed of surrender, (English) Jud. Act, 1873, s. 7 (see now (English) Jud. Act, 1925, s. 10). A county court judge desirous of resigning, and afflicted with permanent infirmity, may be recommended by the Lord Chancellor to the Treasury for a pension, (English) County Courts Act, 1934, s. 9.

Resignation of Borough Councillors, etc.--The resigna-tion by writing, and on payment of a fine, of corporate offices under the (English) Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, is provided for by s. 36 of that Act. See also (English) Local Government Act, 1933 (c. 51), s. 62.

Resignation of Member of Parliament.--A member of the House of Commons cannot resign his seat. All he can do is to accept an office of profit under the Crown, which has the effect of vacating his seat. See CHILTERN HUNDREDS.

Resignation' in the dictionary sense, means the spontaneous relinquishment of one's own right. This is conveyed by the maxim: Resionatio est juris propii spontanea refutatio (See Earl Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law). In relation to an office, it connotes the act of giving up or relinquishing the office. To 'relinquish an office' means to 'cease to hold' the office, or to 'loose hold of' the office, Union of India v. Gopal Chandra Misra, AIR 1978 SC 694: (1978) 2 SCC 301: (1978) 3 SCR 12. [Constitution of India, Art. 217(1)]

The word 'Resignation' means the spontaneous relinquishment of one's own right and in relation to an office, it connotes the act of giving up or relinquishing the office. In the general juristic sense, in order to constitute a complete and operative resignation there must be the intention to give up or relinquish the office and the concomitant act of its relinquishment, AIR 1978 SC 694 followed; Moti Ram v. Param Dev, AIR 1993 SC 1662 (1668): (1993) 2 SCC 725: (1993) 2 SCR 295.

When an employee resigns his office, he formally relinquishes or withdraws from his office. It implies that he has taken a mental decision to sever his relationship with his employer and thereby put an end to the contract of service, J.K. Cotton Spg & Wvg. Millls Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (1990) 4 SCC 27 (35).