Important points
The petitioner herein was granted LWA before she had completed her probation in the entry cadre under Rule (ii) of Appendix XII-B of Part I KSR, the action on the part of the respondents in cancelling the untimely granted promotions and in reverting her and also in revising her position in various seniority lists, taking into account the aforesaid aspects, cannot be said to be illegal-It is perfectly in tune with the provisions under Appendix XII-B of Part I, KSR- The petitioner cannot be heard to contend that the undue promotions granted should be protected.
Bindu vs. State of Kerala, 2008 (1) KLT 78 Followed
Sreekala vs. State of Kerala, 2007 (1) KLT 903 Followed

C.T. RAVI KUMAR, J.

1. The impact of availing Leave Without Allowance (LWA) for study purpose under Rule (ii) of Appendix XII-B, referred to in Exception No.2 of Rule 88 of Part I of the Kerala Service Rules (for short, the KSR), before completion of probation in the entry cadre is the issue that calls for resolution in this original petition and it germinates for consideration in the following factual matrix:-

The petitioner joined the service of the Revenue Department as Lower Division Clerk pursuant to an advice by the Kerala Public Service Commission dated 20.11.1989. Before completion of probation in the said grade, he applied for LWA and it was allowed under Rule (ii) of Appendix XII-B, Part I of KSR, for studying B.Sc Agriculture Course in the Kerala Agricultural University. On completion of the said course, he rejoined duty on 1.11.1994. Subsequently, as per order dated 1.11.1998, he was promoted as Upper Division Clerk. On getting further promotions, he reached up to the post of Deputy Tahsildar. While continuing so, as per Annexure A4 order, the petitioner was reverted to the cadre of Head Clerk/Revenue Inspector/Village Officer, essentially, on detecting the fact that he had availed LWA under Rule (ii) of Appendix XII-B of Part I, KSR. As a necessary sequel, his position in the various seniority lists pertaining to different cadres was revised. Aggrieved by the order of reversion and revision of seniority, he took up the matter before the Government through representation. As per Ext.A11, the third respondent had rejected his representation. It was in such circumstances that the petitioner filed O.A. No. 435 of 2013 seeking quashment of Annexure A4 and A11. He has also sought for issuance of a direction commanding the respondents to restore his seniority in various categories based on the seniority assigned to him as per order No. LRT (3) 25525/2004 dated 11.8.2004 passed by the second respondent. Further, he sought for a declaration that he is entitled to get counted the period of leave from 1.11.1990 to 1.11.1994 for the purpose of seniority. The respondents resisted the claims and contentions of the petitioner. Essentially, their contention was that the petitioner was granted LWA under Rule (ii) Appendix XII-B of Part I KSR on the specific condition that it would forfeit all the service benefits and what was reserved thereunder was only the right to rejoin duty and therefore, the petitioner is not entitled to get the reliefs sought for. The Tribunal upheld the contentions of the respondents and the original application was dismissed. It is in such circumstances that the captioned original petition has been filed.

2. We have heard Sri. N.N. Sugunapalan, the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. T. Rajasekharan Nair, the learned Senior Government Pleader. Admittedly, the petitioner was granted LWA under Rule (ii) of Appendix XII-B of Part I, KSR for study purpose. Going by the same, grant of LWA thereunder would entail forfeiture of past service benefits and the sole right reserved thereunder was only to rejoin duty as a new entrant. Without any demur, the petitioner accepted the conditions and entered on leave and on completion of his study rejoined duty on 1.11.1994. True that without taking into account the fact that he was granted LWA and by virtue of the impact of Rule (ii) Appendix XII-B of Part I KSR, he was not entitled to get reckoned the period of service from 1.11.1990 to 31.10.1994, he was assigned seniority reckoning the said period as well and as a result, he was granted undue promotions, in the sense, promotions untimely. On obtaining such promotions, he reached up to the post of Deputy Tahsildar. In fact, his promotion to the post of Deputy Tahsildar was made under Rule 31(a)(i) of Part II of the KS & SSR. It was while continuing so that Annexure A4 order was passed reverting him to the cadre of Head Clerk/Revenue Inspector/Village Officer and his position in the variou