Statutory voluntary retirement right under service rules prevails over contractual abandonment rules; government consent was not required.

Government service is governed by statutory rules under Article 309 and not by ordinary contract, so Fundamental Rule 56(c) gives a Government servant an absolute statutory right to retire on three months' notice once the prescribed age or service length is reached. Rule 119 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules, 1971, with Explanation 2, applies to contractual employment and abandonment without prior consent; it does not curtail the retirement right under Fundamental Rule 56(c). Accordingly, Government consent was not required, the attempted revocation could not defeat a retirement already validly effected, and the consequential transfer order was invalid.

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Issues: Whether a Government servant who gives notice under Fundamental Rule 56(c) can voluntarily retire without the Government's consent, and whether Rule 119 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules, 1971, read with Explanation 2, renders such retirement ineffective.

Analysis: Employment under the Government is a matter of status and is regulated by statutory rules made under Article 309 of the Constitution of India, not by an ordinary contract of service. Fundamental Rule 56(c) confers an absolute statutory right on a Government servant to retire after giving three months' notice once the prescribed age or length of service is reached. Rule 119 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules, 1971, with its Explanation 2, is directed to cases of employment governed by a contract of employment and abandonment on termination without the employer's prior consent. That provision does not cut down the statutory right created by Fundamental Rule 56(c), and there is no inconsistency requiring Section 37 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Act, 1971, to be invoked. The Government's purported revocation of permission and the consequential transfer order could not defeat a retirement already validly brought about under the statutory rule.

Conclusion: Consent of the Government was not necessary for voluntary retirement under Fundamental Rule 56(c), Rule 119 of the Defence and Internal Security of India Rules, 1971, did not apply, and the appellant had lawfully retired. The revocation and transfer orders were invalid.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory right of voluntary retirement under service rules cannot be overridden by a rule aimed at abandonment of contractual employment, because Government service is governed by status and statutory conditions, not by contract.

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