AJAYKUMAR G. Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in these writ petitions are employees of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute, a research institute working under the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment.

(2.) The grievance of the petitioners in these writ petitions is that without amending the service rules of the respondent institution, the casual leave has been reduced from 20 days to 8 days. The submission is that the service rules provide for casual leave and by an executive order or decision without amending the service rules, the casual leave could not have been reduced from 20 days to 8 days.

(3.) There cannot be any quarrel or dispute with the proposition that the service benefit conferred by the statutory prescription cannot be taken away by an executive decision. However, the question that needs to be considered in these writ petitions is whether the service rules have been amended and if they have been amended when they have been amended.