Earned Leave Application: Format, 12 Real Scenarios, and What to Do When It is Refused

Earned Leave is the most-used leave category in any Central Government office, and also the one where the largest number of applications get returned with queries. The CCS (Leave) Rules 1972 grant 30 days of EL per year, accumulating up to a ceiling of 300 days, fully encashable on retirement. The rule sounds simple. The application is where it gets complicated.

This piece sets out the application format that has the highest sanction rate in our experience, walks through twelve scenarios that come up repeatedly in DoPT establishment work, and ends with the legal position on what to do when an EL application is refused or kept pending beyond a reasonable period.

The minimum-friction EL application format

An application that gets sanctioned in one go has six elements: the addressee, the period of leave with exact dates, the purpose, the number of days at credit, the address during leave, and the contact number. Anything more is optional; anything missing will trigger a query.

From: [Name], [Designation], [Section/Branch]
To: [Designation of Sanctioning Authority]
Subject: Application for Earned Leave from [start date] to [end date]

Sir / Madam,

I request grant of Earned Leave for [N] days from [start date] to [end date] (both days inclusive) for [purpose - one line]. My EL balance as on date is [X] days.

During the period of leave, I shall be available at [full address] and on mobile [number]. Charge of my work has been handed over to [name of colleague] / will be handed over to the section office before proceeding on leave.

I shall be highly obliged if my application is sanctioned.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Name]
[Date]

The phrase to avoid is “if possible”. A leave application is a request for sanction of an entitlement, not a favour. The phrase invites a refusal in the form of “not possible at present, please reapply later”. Our suggested wording above is courteous without inviting that response.

Twelve scenarios and how to handle each

1. EL during the probation period

Earned Leave is admissible during probation. Rule 26 of the CCS (Leave) Rules 1972 fixes the credit at 2.5 days per completed month of service. Most departments, however, prefer that a probationer use Casual Leave for short absences and reserve EL for genuinely necessary breaks. The application format above works without modification; the sanctioning authority will check the balance.

2. EL combined with public holidays and weekends

The CCS Leave Rules permit prefixing or suffixing public holidays and weekends to EL without those days being counted as leave. If the applied period includes a holiday in the middle (say, a Tuesday public holiday in the middle of a week-long EL), that day too is excluded from the leave count. Reflect this in the application: state the exact start and end dates, and let the establishment section work out the day count. Do not pre-emptively reduce the count yourself; that creates reconciliation issues.

3. EL of more than 30 days

EL of more than 30 days at a stretch falls into the category requiring sanction by an authority higher than the immediate reporting officer. Departments differ in who that authority is. Build in a 10 to 15 day notice period for sanctions of this length. For applications of more than 60 days, expect a request for a brief justification beyond the one-line purpose statement.

4. EL applied at short notice (within 7 days)

Short-notice EL is sanctionable, but the burden of justification is higher. State the reason briefly in the purpose line (“for urgent personal commitment in home town”, “to attend to medical situation of a parent”, “for participation in a wedding scheduled at short notice”). Hand-deliver the application rather than email; physical presence makes the urgency credible. Carry a printed copy for your record.

5. EL combined with LTC

If the leave is being availed for the purpose of an LTC journey, mention that explicitly: “for availing Leave Travel Concession to [block declared destination]”. The establishment section will need this for the LTC bill processing. Do not file two separate applications (leave application and LTC sanction); the leave application carries the LTC reference.

6. EL when transfer orders are pending

Once a transfer order is issued, EL becomes harder to sanction at the existing posting because the relieving date pre-empts the leave dates. If the leave was already sanctioned before the transfer order, raise it with the new establishment immediately: pre-existing sanctions are honoured, and the joining time at the new posting can sometimes be merged with the leave period.

7. EL during disciplinary proceedings

If a charge sheet has been issued or a preliminary inquiry is on, EL applications come under closer scrutiny. The sanctioning authority is not barred from granting leave, but will frequently restrict it to short periods or refuse leave that runs across a scheduled inquiry hearing. Do not apply for leave that overlaps with a known hearing date; reschedule the personal commitment if possible.

8. EL and increment date

EL is qualifying service for increment. If your annual increment date falls within an EL period, the increment is sanctioned in due course; you do not lose it. The position is different for Extraordinary Leave, where the rule depends on whether the EOL was on medical grounds or on the basis of an OM. For increment-related queries during EOL, see our separate piece on EOL implications.

9. EL withdrawn after sanction

Once sanctioned, EL can be withdrawn before commencement by a fresh application stating the reason. The days are restored to your leave balance. If the leave has already commenced, partial withdrawal (early return) is permissible; submit a joining report on the day of return, and the unused days will be re-credited.

10. EL extension

If circumstances change during a leave and an extension is needed, send a written extension request from the place of leave addressed to the sanctioning authority. State the original sanction reference, the additional period requested, and the reason. Email is acceptable for the extension request; original signed application can be submitted on return. Treating the extension as automatic and simply not turning up on the joining date creates an unauthorised-absence problem that needs regularisation later.

11. EL refused on grounds of “exigency of work”

“Exigency of work” is the standard ground for refusal. The CCS Leave Rules give the sanctioning authority discretion, but that discretion has been narrowed by court rulings: the Delhi High Court in Smt. Rajesh Rathi v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi (2025) held that discretion to deny leave cannot be exercised arbitrarily, and where EOL has been sanctioned for the same period, refusing CCL on the ground of exigency is contradictory and unsustainable. The same logic applies to EL refusals where the same period has effectively been managed in the employee’s absence through other arrangements.

12. EL kept pending without disposal

If an application is neither sanctioned nor refused, escalate. A reminder application after 7 working days, marked to the sanctioning authority with a copy to the next-higher authority and to the establishment section, generally produces a decision. If the application has been pending for more than 30 days without disposal and the leave dates are approaching, a written representation can be filed under the departmental grievance redress mechanism. CAT can be approached only after departmental remedies have been exhausted.

What the law says about refusal

The position settled across multiple decisions is that leave is not an absolute right; the sanctioning authority has discretion. But that discretion must be exercised “for reasons germane to the rule”, not arbitrarily, not mechanically, and not in a manner that contradicts other concessions granted to the same employee. A reasoned refusal in writing, citing the specific exigency, is sustainable. A blanket “leave not granted” without reasons, or a refusal that is inconsistent with simultaneous grants of EOL or other leave for the same period, is open to challenge.

What to keep on file

Three documents matter when an EL application turns into a dispute: the original application with date-stamp of submission, the response (sanction, refusal, or query) in writing, and the leave balance statement at the date of application. Keep printed copies of all three. Email-only records are difficult to produce in a CAT proceeding three years later when the email account has been deactivated on retirement.

For the application format library covering EL, Medical Leave, EOL, CCL and other categories, see our Leave Application Format Library. For the EOL-specific implications on increment and pension, see Extraordinary Leave: Implications on Increment, Pension, Career.