Kerala High Court
T. Indira vs State Of Kerala on 25 June, 2025
Author: D. K. Singh
Bench: D. K. Singh
WP(C) NO. 40303 OF 2024
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. K. SINGH
WEDNESDAY, THE 25TH DAY OF JUNE 2025 / 4TH ASHADHA, 1947
WP(C) NO. 40303 OF 2024
PETITIONER/S:
T. INDIRA, AGED 56 YEARS, W/O. GOPINATH, ANJALI, TRICHAMBARAM,
TALIPARAMBA, KANNUR DISTRICT, PIN - 670141
BY ADVS. SHRI.K.N.ABHILASH; SHRI.SUNIL NAIR PALAKKAT
SHRI.RISHI VARMA T.R.; SHRI.RITHIK S.ANAND
SMT.SREELAKSHMI MENON P.
RESPONDENT/S:
1 STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY, HIGHER EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT, TRIVANDRUM, PIN - 695004
2 DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, NEAR COLLECTORATE,
KANNUR, PIN - 670012
3 DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICER
DISTRICT EDUCATION OFFICE, TALIPARAMBA, KANNUR, PIN - 670141
4 THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF EDUCATION
JAGATHY, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, PIN - 695014
V. VENUGOPAL-GP
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING FINALLY HEARD ON 25.06.2025, THE COURT ON THE SAME
DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
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JUDGMENT
The petitioner wants payment of leave surrender benefits for
thirty days, for which the petitioner has approached this Court in the
present writ petition with the following prayers:
"(i) Call the entire records leads to Ext P4 and quash Ext P4 by issuing the
writ of certiorari.
(ii) Declare that the petitioner is entitled to get the benefit of leave
surrender.
(iii) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or
direction directing the respondents to disburse the leave surrender
benefit to the petitioner.
(iv) Issue any other writ order or direction, as this Hon'ble Court may
deem fit and proper while considering this writ petition."
2. The petitioner, before her promotion as Headmistress of
Moothedath High School, was teaching as a High School Assistant for
thirty long years and she was promoted as Headmistress on 31.03.2021.
Thereafter, she demitted office on 31.05.2021.
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3. The petitioner's claim for thirty days earned leave surrender
benefit has been rejected vide Ext.P2 order dated 09.12.2022, which was
confirmed by the appellate order in Ext.P4 dated 11.06.2024. These
orders are challenged before this Court.
4. The learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner's claim has been rejected on the grounds of Rule 81A of Part I
of Kerala Service Rules. However, the said Rule is not applicable in the
case of the petitioner, and what is applicable is Note 4 of Rule 81 of the
Kerala Service Rules. It is further submitted that the petitioner should
be treated as 'transferred' from a vacation department to a non-vacation
department after she was promoted.
5. On the other hand, Mr V Venugopal learned Government
Pleader has submitted that the petitioner cannot claim the benefit of
Note 4 of Rule 81, which is applicable in respect of an officer who is
transferred from a vacation department to a non-vacation department.
Promotion in the same department is not a 'transfer'. The duties of the
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petitioner as Principal may be to work even during vacation. But that
does not mean that the petitioner was transferred from a vacation
department to a non-vacation department.
5.1 Further, it is submitted that the Government has issued
Government Order dated 05.02.1973, whereby the headmasters of
schools under the Director of Public Instruction are to be treated as non-
vacation officers with effect from 09.06.1969. Therefore, the petitioner
could be treated as a non-vacation officer.
6. Note 4 to Rule 81 of the Kerala Service Rules reads as under:
"Note 4. When an officer is transferred from a vacation department to a
non-vacation department, his period of service in the former will, for the
purpose of calculation of leave, be considered to have terminated with
effect from the close of the last vacation enjoyed by him. But if the
transfer is effected during the course of vacation, he will be deemed to
have been transferred to the non-vacation department on the close of the
vacation which he has partly enjoyed and he will be credited with
proportionate amount of earned leave under this rule for the period of
vacation which he was prevented from enjoying on account of such
transfer. When an officer is transferred from a non-vacation to a vacation
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department, his period of service in the latter will be held to have
commenced from the date of expiry of the last vacation previous to such
transfer."
6.1 Rule 81A of Part 1 of the Kerala Service Rules reads as under:
"81A-The earned leave admissible to an officer in permanent employ in
the Vacation Department, who is prevented from availing himself of
vacation in full and whose actual period of duty is less than one year due
to superannuation, shall be calculated in such proportion for full block
year as the number of days of actual duty bears to the full year........"
7. The petitioner's reliance on Note 4 of Rule 81 is misplaced
since the petitioner is not transferred from a vacation department to a
non-vacation department, but she was promoted in the same
department. Because of the Government Order dated 05.02.1973, her
period of promotion of two months would be treated as a non-vacation
period.
7.1 Thus, this Court does not find that the stand taken in the
impugned orders in Exts.P2 and P4 suffers from any illegality or that the
petitioner can claim the benefit of leave surrender as claimed in this writ
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petition.
Therefore, the writ petition fails, which is hereby dismissed.
Sd/-
D. K. SINGH
JUDGE
jjj
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APPENDIX OF WP(C) 40303/2024
PETITIONER EXHIBITS
Exhibit P1 THE TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 30.06.2022
SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT
Exhibit P2 THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER 1/193898/2022 DATED 09.12.2022
ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT
Exhibit P3 THE TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT DATED 23.05.2023 IN WP(C) 15133
OF 2023 OF THIS HON'BLE COURT
Exhibit P4 THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 11.06.2024 OF THE 4TH
RESPONDENT
