Casual Leave: 8 Common Myths Cleared with the Actual DoPT Position

Casual Leave is the leave Central Government employees are most familiar with, and also the leave with the highest concentration of misconceptions. Some are harmless. Others result in employees losing leave they were entitled to or accepting refusals that should have been challenged.

The eight common myths

Myth 1: CL is a right that cannot be refused. Incorrect. CL is technically not a leave under CCS (Leave) Rules at all; it is an administrative concession. The sanctioning authority can refuse on exigency grounds.

Myth 2: CL can be combined with EL. Incorrect. CL cannot be prefixed or suffixed to EL or any regular leave (DoPT OM dated 21 December 1981).

Myth 3: CL can be combined with public holidays and Sundays. Partially correct. CL can be combined with adjacent holidays without those holidays counting as leave, but cannot bridge across two separated CL periods if a working day falls in between.

Myth 4: CL can be carried forward. Incorrect. Unused CL at the end of the calendar year lapses. There is no carry-forward provision.

Myth 5: Half-day CL is not allowed. Incorrect. CL can be taken in half-day units (forenoon or afternoon).

Myth 6: CL can be encashed at retirement. Incorrect. Only EL (and a portion of HPL in some cases) is encashable.

Myth 7: Sanctioned CL can be cancelled at short notice. Strictly correct (cancellation on exigency is permissible), but the cancelled days are restored to the credit.

Myth 8: CL on a day that becomes a public holiday is wasted. Incorrect. The day is restored to the credit.

The application format

Subject: Application for Casual Leave on [date]

Sir / Madam,

I request grant of one day Casual Leave on [date] for personal work. My CL balance for the year is [X] days.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature, Name, Date]

Detailed treatment of CL during disciplinary proceedings, CL during the joining period, and the unauthorised-absence consequences when CL is taken without sanction will follow in a forthcoming update.