The High Court has ruled that forcing any teacher to sign a resignation letter has no legal validity and ordered the immediate reinstatement of an affected teacher to his post.
The court warned that failure to implement the directive could lead to punitive measures, including the cancellation of the educational institution’s managing committee, the removal of the committee’s president, and the suspension of Monthly Pay Order (MPO) benefits for the acting headmaster.
The judgment was delivered in the case of Md Alkas Uddin Ahmed v the state.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Md Iqbal Kabir and Justice SM Saiful Islam disposed of the rule with the final verdict on 20 August, following the final hearing on a writ petition challenging the forced resignation of Md Alkas Uddin Ahmed, headmaster of Golam Nabi Model Pilot High School in Kaliakoir, Gazipur.
The full copy of the verdict, written by the senior judge of the bench, Justice Md Iqbal Kabir, was published recently.
Advocates Md Jahurul Islam Mukul and Manavendra Roy represented the writ petitioner in court, while Advocate SM Rezaul Islam appeared on behalf of the president of the school managing committee.
According to the case details, Md Alkas Uddin Ahmed was serving as the headmaster of Golam Nabi Model Pilot High School in Kaliakoir Upazila, Gazipur, when a group of individuals forcibly obtained his signature on a resignation letter against his will on 14 August 2024.
On 15 August 2024, he lodged a General Diary (GD) regarding the incident at Kaliakoir Police Station. Subsequently, he submitted detailed written applications to the District Secondary Education Officer on 20 August and to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) on 24 August.
He also brought the matter to the attention of the director general (DG) of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka (Dhaka Education Board), seeking legal redress and intervention.
Based on the report of an investigation committee formed to look into the incident, the Dhaka Education Board ordered the reinstatement of Alkas Uddin Ahmed to his post.
However, as the board’s order was not properly implemented, he filed a writ petition in the High Court in 2024 seeking a remedy.
The High Court issued a rule upon hearing the petition and stayed the operation of the forcibly obtained resignation letter for three months before disposing of the rule with its final verdict on 20 August.
In its judgment, the High Court held that the petitioner’s resignation was neither voluntary nor given of his own accord, emphasising that neither the law nor existing rules support a resignation taken by force or under pressure.
The court noted that the petitioner had received his salary and allowances as part of his MPO until July 2025. Under these circumstances, the school managing committee is legally obligated to allow him to perform his duties as headmaster or retain him in service, making him entitled to immediate reinstatement.
The High Court further observed that, as a higher authority under the law, the Education Board possesses the jurisdiction to review, approve, modify, or cancel any disciplinary or punitive action proposed by a managing committee, as well as the authority to take necessary measures.
Adding that the board’s directives are binding on all concerned, the verdict noted that failing to execute such instructions constitutes a breach of legal duty and a violation of the petitioner’s legal rights.
