JUDGMENT

ANIL R. DAVE, J.

1. Being aggrieved by the Judgment dated 17th August, 2007 delivered by the High Court of Delhi in Writ Petition © No. 8004 of 2006, this appeal has been filed by the Union of India and others.

2. The facts giving rise to the present litigation in a nutshell are as under:

Respondent no.1 was recruited and was undergoing training for being appointed to the post of Store Hand Technical (SHT) in the Army Supply Corps and he had joined his Basic Military training at Bangalore on 14th August, 2004. Upon completion of the training but before being confirmed in service or being appointed as a soldier, he was granted annual basic leave for 28 days from 5th January, 2005 to 1st February, 2005. Thereafter, he became sick and hospitalized from 4th February to 8th February, 2005. Thereafter, he proceeded on casual leave for 15 days commencing from 24th February to 10th March, 2005 and resumed his service on 11th March, 2005 and on 12th March, 2005 he requested for voluntary discharge possibly because his mother was not keeping good health. Subsequently, on 14th March, 2005, he withdrew his request for voluntary discharge and thereafter he remained absent from the traini