Casual Leave Rules

CASUAL LEAVE RULES 

(Extract taken from CSR (Punjab) Volume I, Part-I) 

8.61 A Government servant on Casual Leave or on quarantine leave is not treated as absent from duty and his pay and allowances are not intermitted, as such leave is not recognized regular leave and is not subject to the rules in this Chapter.  

8.62 Rules regulating the grant of Casual Leave are given in Appendix 17. 

APPENDIX 17 

(Referred to in rule 8.62) 

Rules for the grant of Casual Leave 

CASUAL LEAVE RULES 

Casual Leave may be granted to Government servants for short periods subject to the following conditions: 

1. Casual Leave should not ordinarily exceed 10 days at a time and 25 days during any one calendar year;
2. ii) The sanctioning authority may, however, grant Casual Leave up to 15 days at a time in special circumstances;
3. iii) It may be granted in conjunction with Fridays or public holidays, but not with any  other kind of leave or joining time. In case Casual Leave is combined with holidays the total period should not exceed 15 days at a time. The public holidays which are sandwiched between the Casual Leave shall be debited to the Casual Leave Account; 

1. iv) No Government servant may leave his headquarters during Casual Leave or holidays except with the permission of the sanctioning authority; 

1. v) Subject to the delegation of powers which has been or may be made by Government from time to time in this behalf, Casual Leave may be sanctioned to a Government servant by his immediate officer; 

1. vi) In emergency the Commissioners of Divisions can sanction Casual Leave up to 10 days to the Regional and Divisional Officers. In such cases the Commissioners shall inform the Heads of the Attached Departments by a teleprinter message. While applying for such emergency leave, the Regional/Divisional Officer is required to observe the following two conditions: 

1. a) he should certify that the leave applied for is due to him; and Back to Contents

1. b) he should suggest acting arrangements for the disposal of work during his absence. 

vii) The District Officers of other departments while proceeding on Casual Leave extending beyond 10 days shall inform the Deputy Commissioner of that fact; 

viii) Casual Leave shall not be granted to Government servants in conjunction with training period spent abroad; 

1. ix) The record of the Casual Leave should be kept in the following manner: 

1. Casual Leave Account of each Government servant should be maintained properly on the prescribed form; 

1. b) It should always remain in the custody of the sanctioning authority; 

1. c) Casual Leave should not be granted unless the Casual Leave Account is seen by the sanctioning authority to ensure that (i) the Leave applied for, is due and (ii) it is not excessive vis-à-vis the period of service during the year; and  

1. d) Casual Leave Account should be closed on the transfer of a Government servant from the department/office or from one section/branch to another in the same department, signed by the sanctioning authority and transferred immediately to the department/office or section/branch to which the officer is transferred. 

(INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT CASUAL LEAVE) 

(Extract taken from Manual of Secretariat Instructions) 

(i) Casual Leave should not ordinarily exceed 10 days at a time and 25 days during any one calendar year. The sanctioning authority may, however, grant Casual Leave up to 15 days at a time in special circumstances.

(ii) Casual Leave may be granted in conjunction with Fridays or public holidays, but not with any other kind of leave or joining time. When it is combined with holidays, the total period should not exceed 15 days at a time.

(iii) Subject to the delegation of powers which has been or may be made by Government from time to time in this behalf, Casual Leave may be sanctioned to a Government servant by his immediate superior of grade 16 and above.

(iv) Casual Leave account of officers and Stenographers of officers of the rank of Deputy Secretary and above should be maintained in the Establishment and Accounts Branch of the Department concerned. Their applications should be marked to the Establishment and Accounts Branch which will add the Casual Leave account of the applicants and submit the papers to the concerned officers immediately for orders.

(v) When the officers proceed on leave or tour, their Stenographers should report for duty to the Deputy Secretary in charge of the Wing in the Department.

(vi) Casual Leave account of the ministerial establishment including Section Stenographers should be maintained in the Section in which they are working.

(vii) No Government servant should leave his headquarters during Casual Leave or holidays without the permission of the leave sanctioning authority.

(viii) Government servants are not entitled to Casual Leave as of right. The Casual Leave is granted to them by way of grace to enable Government servants to attend to their private affairs of casual nature. 

Rule 8.62 (Casual Leave Rules of the Revised Leave Rules, 1981) may be implemented in letter and spirit. Casual Leave account of the PAS/OMG/PMS Officers (BS-17) posted in the Secretariat Departments as well as in the field may be submitted to this Department within a week positively.

Leaving Station:

1. iv)  No Government servant may leave his headquarters during casual leave or holidays except with the permission of the sanctioning authority.

Leave Account:

 So, Casual Leave Account should close on the transfer of a Government servant from the department/office or from one section/branch to another in the same department, signed by the endorsing specialist and exchanged promptly to the office/office or area/branch to which the officer is exchanged.

Special Casual Leave can be taken for half day also.

Combination of Casual Leave  or regular leave (e.g., Earned Leave, Half Pay Leave etc) with Special Casual Leave is permissible, but combination of both Casual Leave and regular leave together with Special Casual Leave is not permissible.

Generally, leave, whether CL or EL, is not refused unless for some very important reason. In spite of this, if you remain absent, your absence could be considered as ‘unauthorised absence’ and hence treated as leave without pay.

• Casual leaves cannot be carried forward to the next year. According to casual leave rules, after the year ends, the casual leaves which are unused expire automatically.