Study leave is a privilege that cannot be considered a right: HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that study leave granted to an employee is a privilege and cannot be referred to as a right.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Sheela Nagu and Anil Kshetarpal refused to interfere with the decision of Pandit BD Sharma of the Rohtak University of Health Sciences, who rejected the plea of ​​doctor Vikas Chaudhary for sabbatical leave, prompting him to reverse his decision in 2018.

Chaudhary, after completing his PhD in Medicine (Cardiology) from PGIMS, Rohtak, joined the institute as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine in December 2013. In January 2017, he applied for paid sabbatical leave for admission to DM (Cardiology) at AIIMS, New Delhi.

In April 2018, the university rejected his application, citing regulation 27 of the University Employees Leave Regulations, which states that paid sabbatical leave can only be granted if 75% of the faculty’s total teaching staff are available and working. However, that percentage would now drop to 68.18% if his leave were approved.

In his letter, the doctor argued that employees were entitled to paid study leave and that the defendant’s actions were discriminatory.

The court said that as per university rules, it is provided if 75% of the total number of teachers are available in a particular department. It is a facility given to permanent teachers to upgrade their skills, provided they have already completed a year of service. The ultimate aim of granting study leave is to use the knowledge for improving the facilities for the next five years (if availed, he cannot leave the institute for the next five years), the court observed.

“This principle does not create a corresponding right for the employee or a corresponding obligation for the employer. It is merely a concession or benefit granted by the employer to the employee,” the court noted, adding that the main purpose of the sanction of paid leave for studies is to assess the future requirements of the university.

“Grant of paid study leave is not a vested right of an employee. In fact, it is a privilege granted by the university to its regular employees who fulfil the requirements of the Rules. Therefore, the petitioner cannot claim that he is entitled to paid study leave as a vested right. There is a difference between a right and a privilege/entitlement. A privilege may be granted on certain special grounds which may be rejected or withdrawn at any time,” the court observed while upholding the university’s decision.

He further added that when the benefit of the privilege is based on an intelligible difference and is necessitated by the subject matter of the regulation, the denial will not be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The court cannot interfere as it is not a legal right and enforceable in a court of law. Thus, the decision to approve leave or not rests with the employer, he added, stating that, therefore, the court does not consider it appropriate to interfere with the orders denying approval of paid study leave.