Leave cannot be claimed as a right and the government has the discretion to refuse or revoke leave when the exigencies of public service demand.

( 1 ) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution for suitable writs or directions (i) to quash a notice dated 20 March 1959 (Annexure-B) intimating to the petitioner that he would be retired from service on the expiry of three months from the date of its receipt, (ii) to require the respondents to postpone the date of retirement so as enable the petitioner to enjoy the earned leave due to him and also (iii) to direct the State of Madhya Pradesh (respondent 1) to place fully and correctly before the Central Government all facts relating to the leave due to the petitioner.

( 2 ) THE petitioner was promoted from the State Police Service to the Indian Police Service, on which, post he was subsequently confirmed. At the material time, he had completed more than 30 years of qualifying service. On 20-31959, the Government of Madhya Pradesh (respondent 1) served on the petitioner a notice (Annexure B) under Rule 17 (2) of the All India Services (Deathcum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, intimating to him that he would be retired from Service on the expiry of 8 months from the date of its service. The petitioner made a representation (Annexure C) and requested that he should be granted all the leave due to him preparatory to his retirement. The petitioner was telegraphically intimated that leave preparatory to retirement was sanctioned subject to admissibility and that it might be availed of immediately. However, the formal order (Annexure B) dated 2-5-1959 limited the leave to only 64 days commencing from 19 April 1959 and ending on a date coinciding with the date already fixed for the compulsory retirement of the petitioner.

( 3 ) THE petitioner's case, briefly stated, is this. On 20-3-1959, he had to his credit at least 620 days of earned leave. This, accumulated leave constituted his property since it enabled him to enjoy as of right 120 days of the leave on full pay and the remaining leave on half pay prior to his retirement with consequent increase in the amount of pension) admissible to him. Secondly, the petitioner was not governed by the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, which were recently framed. In any event, since these Rules entitled the State Government to act unjustly, they were void and inoperative. Thirdly, the compulsory retirement of the petitioner originated in some complaint made against him which he had no opportunity of meeting before it was acted upon to his prejudice. That being so, the order of compulsory retirement was not a lawful order. Finally, the assent of the Central Government to the compulsory retirement of the petitioner was obtained by suppressing the fact that he had more than 620 days of accumulated earned leave to his credit.

( 4 ) THE main contention of the petitioner is that he had a right to the leave which he had earned and that, since it secured to him certain advantages in the matter of work, emoluments and (pension, it constitutes his property. In our opinion, this contention is not well-founded. Sub-rule (1) of Rule 3 of the All India Services (Leave) Rules, 1955, framed under the All India Services Act, 1951 (LXI of 1951) provides as follows:

"leave cannot be claimed as of right and when the exigencies of public service so demand, leave of any description may be refused or revoked by the Government. "

Rule 9 of the same Rules reads :"no leave shall be granted beyond the date on which a member of the Service must compulsorily retire: Provided that a member of the Service who has been denied in whole or in part on account of exigencies of the public service the earned leave which was due to him pending retirement, may be granted by the Government the whole or any portion of the earned leave so denied, even though it extends to a date beyond the data on which he must compulsorily retire. "

It is obvious from these rules that leave cannot be claimed as of right and that, when it is refused even pending retirement, the Government has