The Supreme Court of India, in a judgment dated 22 May 2026, clarified an important boundary in employment law: when a worker's job ends because they stayed away without permission and offered no written explanation, the employer cannot be held responsible for illegal termination.
The case began in 2012. M/s Rifilis Engineering Pvt Ltd, a private engineering company, said its employee, Arjun Gupta, had stopped coming to work without informing anyone from 14 May 2012. The company maintained it never formally terminated him — the employment simply ceased because of his own unexplained absence.
Gupta told the labour court he had gone on leave because his mother was seriously ill and had verbally told his supervisor before leaving. He also claimed he returned on 8 June 2012 but was refused entry and illegally removed from service.
A labour court, and later the Allahabad High Court, accepted his account and ordered the company to reinstate him with 50% back wages. The Supreme Court overturned both decisions.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta found that Gupta had produced no documentary evidence to support either the reason for his absence or his claim that he was refused re-entry. The court noted that if his explanation had been genuine, a written communication to the employer would have been expected.
On the question of notice, the court also held that the employer was entitled to use the address Gupta himself had provided at the time of appointment. If he had moved, it was his responsibility to update his employer.
For working professionals, the ruling is a clear reminder of a practical obligation: when taking unplanned leave — especially for personal emergencies — written communication to the employer matters. A verbal conversation with a supervisor, without any follow-up in writing, may not hold up as evidence if a dispute arises later. The burden of proving that an absence was justified falls on the employee, not the employer.
