Cuttack, Feb 10: Government servants who quit job after availing study leave are not entitled to get salary for the leave period, the Orissa High Court ruled.
The government has every right to recover the stipend or any other monetary benefit paid to the government servants during the study leave period if they have not worked with the government immediately after returning from such study leave.
Justice AK Mohapatra observed this hearing the case of a woman medical officer, Dr Minakhi Mishra, who had sought intervention against inaction on her resignation letter and consequent no objection certification (NOC) for joining as assistant professor at AIIMS (Patna).
Mishra had joined Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital after completing radiotherapy in 2019. Later, she took study leave to continue as a senior resident at AIIMS (Bhubaneswar) from 2019 to 2022. On completion of the senior resident course, she rejoined as medical officer but later received offer for appointment at AIIMS (Patna) on December 21, 2023.
While disposing of the petition on February 5, Justice AK Mohapatra ruled that the government has every right to recover the stipend or any other monetary benefit paid to the government servants during the study leave period if they have not worked for the aforesaid period or severed the employee and employer relationship with the government immediately after returning from such study leave.
Accordingly, he directed the state government to grant NOC and a discharge/release certificate to the petitioner within one week and accept her resignation.
