CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI O.A. No. 3531/2023 Reserved on : 28.01.2026 Pronounced on : 10.02.2026 Hon’ble Mrs. Harvinder Kaur Oberoi, Member (J)

Hon’ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member (A)

Janki Manral Flat No. 14, Aakriti Apartments.

Plot No. 62, IP Extension, Delhi-110092 ….Applicant (By Advocate : Mr. Shrutanjaya Bhardwaj with Mr. Yash Tayal)

Vs.

1. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi)

Through its Chief Secretary, New Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New Delhi

2. Health & Family Welfare Department, GNCTD, Through its Principal Secretary, New Secretariat, I.P. Estate, New Delhi

3. Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, GNCTD Through its Medical Director, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi ….Respondents (By Advocate : Ms. Purnima Maheshwari and Mr. Pushp Raj Yadav, Legal Asst. GTB Hospital)

ORDER Hon'ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member (A) :

The instant OA has been filed by the applicant under section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following reliefs:-

"I. Allow the present O.A. and quash the impugned Office Orders dated 20.01.2022 and 06.10.2022 issued by the Administrative Officer, E-II Branch, G.T.B. Hospital, and the Show Cause Notice dated 03.04.2023 (received on 02.06.2023) issued by the Administrative Officer, E-II Branch, G.T.B. Hospital;

II. Allow the present OA and declare that the Applicant is entitled to study leave for the session 2019-21 for pursing M.Sc. course from Prakash Institute of Physiotherapy Rehabilitation & Allied Medical Sciences:

III. Allow the present OA and direct the Respondents to grant study leave to the Applicant for the session 2019-21 for pursing M.Sc. course from Prakash Institute of Physiotherapy Rehabilitation & Allied Medical Sciences; and IV. Pass any such other orders as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit in the facts and circumstances of this case.”

2. The factual matrix of the case as per the counsel of the applicant is that the applicant is aggrieved by arbitrary denial of study leave for pursuing M.Sc. (Nursing), despite being fully eligible under the applicable statutory framework. The applicant has been serving since 1999 as a Teacher at Florence Nightingale College of Nursing, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital with B.Sc. (Nursing) qualification and has been teaching General Nursing & Midwifery students for more than two decades. In 2018 the said Institution was upgraded from Florence Nightingale School of Nursing to Florence Nightingale College of Nursing and it started awarding Degree of B.Sc. Nursing (Honours) programme with substantial student intake, thereby necessitating higher academic qualifications among faculty. In order to maintain academic standards and meet institutional requirements, the applicant secured admission in M.Sc. (Nursing) at Prakash Institute of Physiotherapy Rehabilitation & Allied Medical Sciences for the academic session 2019–21 and submitted requests dated 23.07.2019, 31.08.2019 and 16.09.2019 seeking study leave along with NOC/Relieving Order as also requisite undertaking. Owing to administrative delay, the applicant could not join the course in time and was informed by the Institute that her admission would be cancelled in absence of a Relieving Order. Although her study leave was not sanctioned however, she was granted Earned Leave vide Office Order dated 19.09.2019, and was relieved also from her duties vide the said order thereby enabling her to pursue the course. According to the counsel even though the applicant satisfied all the conditions prescribed under Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, particularly Rule 51 which entitles a civil servant to avail study leave for pursuing higher education subject to prescribed conditions, she was not granted Study Leave. Counsel further pressed that the applicant’s request for study leave was placed before the competent authority only in 2021 in which year her course was about to complete which was not correct on the part of the respondents. However, the applicant successfully completed the course and rejo