Full Judgment Text
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* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Judgment reserved on: 05.02.2026
% Judgment delivered on: 04.06.2026
+ LPA 589/2025
SANGEETA NEGI .....Appellant
Through: Mr. Sermon Rawat and Ms. Aastha
Vishwakarma, Advocates.
versus
BHARTI PUBLIC SCHOOL & ORS. .....Respondents
Through: Mr. B.C. Pandey, Mr. S.P. Kamrah,
Mr. Puneet Batra and Mr. Aryavansh
Kamrah, Advocates for R-1 & R-2.
Mr. Yeeshu Jain, ASC with Ms. Jyoti
Tyagi, Ms. Vishruti Pandey, Mr.
Sachin Garg, Advocates for R-3 to R-
5.
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TEJAS KARIA
J U D G M E N T
DEVENDRA KUMAR UPADHYAYA, C.J.
1. As to whether, the petitioner who is a teacher working with the
respondent-School, which is a recognized but un-aided and privately
managed, is entitled to the benefit of Child Care Leave ( hereinafter referred
to as „ CCL’ ) is the question which engages our attention in this intra-court
appeal.
2. The appellant instituted W.P.(C) 11903/2025, with a prayer to issue a
direction to the respondent-School to grant her CCL for the period between
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01.05.2025 to 30.09.2025 on the ground that her son who was in Class XII
was facing certain academic pressure. The writ petition has been dismissed
by the learned Single Judge vide impugned order dated 08.08.2025 relying
upon a judgment of the learned Single Judge of this Court in Beena Arora v.
Directorate of Education, 2017 SCC OnLine Del 7600 . We may note at this
juncture itself that the learned Single Judge in Beena Arora (supra) has
placed reliance on M.I. Hussain v. Director of Education, 2014 SCC
OnLine Del 1226, a Division Bench of this Court .
3. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the records available
before us on this intra-court appeal.
4. Terms and conditions of service of employees of recognised private
schools are governed by the provisions contained in Chapter IV of the Delhi
School Education Act, 1973 ( hereinafter referred to as „ DSE Act ).
5. The term “Employee” has been defined in Section 2(h) of the DSE Act
to mean a teacher and includes every other employee working in a recognised
school. Section 2(h) is reproduced here under:
(h) “employee” means a teacher and includes every other employee
working in a recognised school;”
6. Section 10 of DSE Act, which falls in its Chapter IV, is in respect of
salaries of the employees, wherein, it has inter alia been provided that pay
scale, allowances, medical facilities, pension, provident fund, gratuity and
“other prescribed benefits” of the employees working in a recognised private
school shall not be less than those employees of the corresponding status in
schools run by the appropriate authority. Section 10 of the DSE Act reads as
under:
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“ 10. Salaries of employees.— (1) The scales of pay and allowances,
medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed
benefits of the employees of a recognised private school shall not be less
than those of the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by
the appropriate authority:
Provided that where the scales of pay and allowances, medical
facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits
of the employees of any recognised private school are less than those of
the employees of the corresponding status in the schools run by the
appropriate authority, the appropriate authority shall direct, in writing,
the managing committee of such school to bring the same up to the level
of those of the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by
the appropriate authority:
Provided further that the failure to comply with such direction shall
be deemed to be non-compliance with the conditions for continuing
recognition of an existing school and the provisions of section 4 shall
apply accordingly.
(2) The managing committee of every aided school shall deposit,
every month, its share towards pay and allowances, medical facilities,
pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits with the
Administrator and the Administrator shall disburse, or cause to be
disbursed, within the first week of every month, the salaries and
allowances to the employees of the aided schools.”
7. The expression “Appropriate Authority” has been defined in Section
2(e) of the DSE Act, which, in the case of a school recognised by an
authority means authority designated or sponsored by the Central
Government. In case of a school recognised by Delhi Administration, the
authority means the Administrator or any other officer authorised by him and
in case of a school recognised by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, it is
that corporation and in case of any other school the “appropriate authority”
means the Administrator or any other officer authorised by him in this behalf.
Section 2(e) of the DSE Act is also extracted herein below:
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“ (e) “appropriate authority” means,—
(i) in the case of a school recognised or to be recognised by an
authority designated or sponsored by the Central Government, that
authority;
(ii) in the case of a school recognised or to be recognised by the
Delhi Administration, the Administrator or any other officer authorised
by him in this behalf;
(iii) in the case of a school recognised or to be recognised by the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi, that Corporation;
(iv) in the case of any other school, the Administrator or any other
officer authorised by him in this behalf;”
8. It is also to be noticed that the term “Prescribed” has been defined in
Section 2(q) of the DSE Act to mean prescribed by the rules made under the
DSE Act. Section 2(q) of the DSE Act is extracted herein below:
“(q) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;”
9. Apart from the aforesaid statutory provisions occurring in the DSE
Act, we may also refer to Rule 11 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973
( hereinafter referred to as ‘Rules, 1973’ ), which is in respect of leave of
absence. As per the said Rule, every employee of a recognised private school,
whether aided or not, is entitled to such leave as are admissible to an
employee of a corresponding status in government schools. Rule 111 of the
Rules, 1973 reads as under:
“ 111. Leave of absence
Every employee of a recognised private school, whether aided or nut, shall be entitled to
such leave as are admissible to employees of a corresponding status in government schools.”
10. The submission on behalf of the appellant is that having regard to the
provisions of Section 10 of the DSE Act read with Rule 111 of the Rules,
1973, the appellant is an employee working in a privately recognized school,
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which school is unaided and therefore, in case the benefit of CCL is available
to an employee of the same status in a government school, such benefit
cannot be denied to the appellant.
11. As per Rule 43(C) of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, a
female government servant may be granted CCL by the authority competent
to grant leave for a maximum period of 730 days during the entire service for
taking care of two eldest surviving children, whether for rearing or for
looking after any of their needs, such as education, sickness and the like.
Rule 43(C) of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, ( hereinafter
referred to as „ Leave Rules, 1972 ‟) is extracted herein below:
(1) Subject to the provisions of this rule, a female Government servant
and single male Government servant may be granted child care leave by
an authority competent to grant leave for a maximum period of seven
hundred and thirty days during entire service for taking care of two
eldest surviving children, whether for rearing or for looking after any of
their needs, such as education, sickness and the like.
(DOPT Notification No. 11020/01/2017-Estt. (L), dated 11.12.2018)
(2) For the purposes of sub-rule (1), "child" means—
(a) a child below the age of eighteen years: or
(b) an offspring of any age with a minimum disability of forty per cent as
specified in the Government of India in Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment's Notification No. 16-18/97-N 1.1, dated the 1st June,
2001.
(DOPT Notification No. 13018/6/2013- Estt. (L), dated 06.06.2018)
(3) Grant of child care leave to a female Government servant and a
single male Government servant under sub-rule (1) shall be subject to the
following conditions, namely:- (DOPT Notification No. 11020/01/2017-
Estt. (L), dated 11.12.2018)
(i) it shall not be granted for more than three spells in a calendar year;
[As a welfare measure, it has now been decided that, the leave
sanctioning authorities in the Ministries or Departments under the
Government of India are bestowed with the power to relax up to a
maximum of three spells beyond the existing three spells of Child Care
Leave in a calendar year, under Rule 43-C(3)(i) of the CCS(Leave) Rules
1972, to female Central Government employees and single male Central
Government employees in case their child is admitted in a hospital as
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inpatient. vide DoPT‟s OM No. A-24011/5/2024-ESTT-Leave dated
29.07.2024.]
(ii) in case of a single female Government servant, the grant of leave in
three spells in a calendar year shall be extended to six spells in a
calendar year.
(iii) it shall not ordinarily be granted during the probation period except
in case of certain extreme situations where the leave sanctioning
authority is satisfied about the need of child care leave to the
probationer, provided that the period for which such leave is sanctioned
is minimal.
(iv) child care leave may not be granted for a period less than five days
at a time.
(4) During the period of child care leave, a female Government
servant and a single male Government servant shall be paid one hundred
per cent of the salary for the first three hundred and sixty-five days, and
at eighty per cent of the salary for the next three hundred and sixty-five
days.
EXPLANATION.— Single Male Government servant' means — an
(5) Child care leave may be combined with leave of any other kind.
(6) Notwithstanding the requirement of production of medical
certificate contained in sub-rule (1) of Rule 30 or sub-rule (1) of Rule 31,
leave of the kind due and admissible (including Commuted Leave not
exceeding sixty days and Leave Not Due) up to a maximum of one year, if
applied for, be granted in continuation with child care leave granted
under sub-rule (1).
(7) Child care leave shall not be debited against the leave account.
(8) In case of surrogacy, the commissioning mother with less than two
surviving children may be granted child care leave.
Note 1:- The expression „commissioning mother‟ shall mean the
intending mother of the child born through surrogacy. (DOPT
Notification No. A-24011/21/2023-ESTT-Leave, dated 18.06.2024)”
12. Thus, so far as, teachers working in government schools in Delhi are
concerned, in terms of the provisions of Rule 43(C) of the Leave Rules, 1972,
CCL is a benefit which has been made available to them.
13. Rule 111 of the Rules, 1973 as quoted above, deals with the
provisions relating to leave of absence, according to which an employee
working in a recognized private school which may be unaided is entitled to
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such leave as are admissible to the employees of government schools and
therefore, as per the said provision contained in Rule 111 of the Rules, 1973
in our opinion, since the benefit of CCL is available to a teacher of a
government school in Delhi, the appellant can also not be denied to such
benefit.
14. We may refer to the provisions of Section 10 of the DSE Act, which
mandates that scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension,
provident fund and gratuity of the employees of the recognized private school
shall not be less than those working in the corresponding status in a school
run by the government. Apart from the scales of pay and allowances, medical
facilities, pension, provident fund and gratuity applicable to government
school teachers, “other prescribed benefits” have also been made available to
the teachers working in a recognized private school.
15. We have already referred to the definition of the phrase “Prescribed”
which, in terms of Section 2(q) of the DSE Act, means prescribed by the
Rules, 1973 made under the DSE Act. Rules, 1973 have been made under the
rule-making power available to the Administrator under Section 28 of the
DSE Act, and therefore, the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 are the
Rules made under the DSE Act. Rule 111 of the Rules, 1973, thus forms part
of the Rules made under the DSE Act, and accordingly, the word “Benefits”
occurring in Section 10(1) of the Rules, 1973, which is preceded by the word
“Prescribed”, in our opinion, would include the benefit of leave as well.
16. As far as the judgment relied upon by the learned Single Judge on
Beena Arora (supra), which is a Single Judge judgment of this Court, we
have already noticed that Beena Arora (supra) is based on a certain
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interpretation accorded to Section 10(1) of the DSE Act by a Division Bench
of this Court in M.I. Hussain (supra).
17. It is to be noticed that M.I. Hussain (supra) was a case which
concerned itself with the claim of the employee (Librarian) working in Delhi
Public School, Mathura Road which is a recognized unaided private school.
The claim put forth by the said librarian was that like teachers, he should be
made to retire on attaining the age of superannuation of 60 years and not at
58 years. The librarian in the said case also claimed that the post being held
by him was a teaching post based on the Office Order dated 21.01.2011.
Thus, there was no claim put forth by the employee concerned in the said
case in relation to the CCL.
18. The Division Bench in M.I. Hussain (supra) , interpreting the said
Office Order dated 21.01.2011 issued by the Government of NCTD, held that
the said notification declared the post of librarian as a teaching post only in
respect of those librarians who were working in government schools and not
in private schools. It was further held by the Division Bench by interpreting
Section 10(1) of the DSE Act that since the extension of the age of retirement
from 58 to 60 years is not covered by the said provision, the librarian would
not be entitled to seek his superannuation like teachers on his attaining the
age of 60 years, rather he would retire on completion of the age of 58 years.
19. Thus, it is in the aforesaid facts that we need to decipher the ratio of
M.I. Hussain (supra). Applying the principle of “ ejusdem generis ” for
interpreting the provisions of Section 10 of the DSE Act, the Division Bench
in M.I. Hussain (supra) has held that the said Rule is a Rule of interpretation
which guides the Court in determining whether two or more words which are
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susceptible of analogous meaning are coupled together, they are to be
understood to be used in their cognate sense. It is in this context that it has
been held in M.I. Hussain (supra) that while applying the e jusdem generis
principle, a broad-based genus has to be discovered and thereafter, the
intention of the legislature has to be gathered.
20. Discussing the principle of e jusdem generis, the Division Bench in
M.I. Hussain (supra) held that a broad-based genus in Section 10 of the DSE
Act is clearly discernible, which is “benefit having the character of money”.
It has further been held that pay scale, allowances, medical facilities, pension,
provident fund, gratuity have the common “character of money” and these
words are followed by the general expression “other prescribed benefits” and
therefore, the wide expression, i.e. “other prescribed benefits” must take the
meaning from the genus of the previous words that is to say such benefits
which are capable of being converted into money, such as bonus, leave
encashment etc. will be covered by the expression “other prescribed benefits”
occurring in Section 10(1) and no other.
21. The said interpretation resorted to by the Division Bench in M.I.
Hussain (supra) was in relation to a claim of extension of age of
superannuation from 58 years to 60 years, however, what appears to have lost
sight of by the Division Bench in M.I. Hussain (supra) is the meaning of the
expression “Prescribed” which precedes the word “Benefits” in Section
10(1).
22. As already discussed above, the expression, “Prescribed” has been
defined in Section 2(q) of the DSE Act to mean prescribed by Rules made
under DSE Act and since Rule 111 of the Rules, 1973 is the part of Delhi
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School Education Rules, 1973 which has been made under Section 28 of the
DSE Act, in our opinion, the “Prescribed Benefits” has to be discerned as per
the prescription under the Rules, 1973.
23. It is not in doubt that leave of absence is a benefit available to an
employee and since such benefit of leave of absence has been made available
to the employees of unaided recognized private schools at par with the
employees of government schools, in our opinion Rule 111 will have to be
read with full force for considering the issue as to whether, the appellant is
entitled to CCL or not.
24. Leave, as is understood in service jurisprudence, is of different kinds,
some of which have the character of money but some of which do not.
Various kinds of leave which have the character of money are Earned Leave,
Half Pay Leave and Commuted Leave, etc. The other kinds of leave which do
not have the character of money are Maternity Leave, CCL and Study Leave,
Special Disability Leave, Hospital Leave, Seaman‟s Sickness Leave etc.
25. The leave, which is having a character of money, if not availed, is
encashed by the employee, whereas the leave which do not have the character
of money, if not availed, cannot be encashed in terms of money. CCL is one
such leave, which, if not availed, cannot be encashed by the employee
concerned.
26. Having discussed different kinds of leave having the character of
money and also those not having the character of money, we lean on the
provisions contained in Rule 111 of the Rules, 1973, which is in respect of
leave of absence and does not distinguish between leave having the character
of money and leave which does not have the character of money. Since
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irrespective of the fact as to whether a particular kind of leave has or does not
have character of money, Rule 111 grants the benefit of leave of absence to
an employee of a recognized private school, whether aided or unaided, at par
with such employees working in a corresponding status in a government
school, in our opinion, the benefit of CCL will be available to those
employees working in unaided recognized and privately managed schools in
Delhi as well, as is available to the employees of the government schools.
27. A Division Bench of this Court in Amandeep Kaur v. Union of India,
2015 SCC OnLine Del 13044 has observed that CCL is a special type of
leave which is prescribed for the benefit of a child and further that such leave
serves a larger societal goal in public interest in furthering every individual
right to hold some family life, securing the interest and health of infants
which are all facets of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The Division
Bench in this case has also held that public employers should not ordinarily
deny CCL to a mother unless it is for compelling and overriding public
interest considerations, and also that discretion for granting CCL should be
exercised liberally by the employers having regard to its objective and
underlying purpose. Paragraph 14 of the aforesaid judgment is extracted
herein below:
“14. We must remark that CCLs are special types of leaves which are
prescribed for the benefit of the child. They serve a larger societal goal
and public interest in furthering every individual's right to a wholesome
family life, securing the interest and health of infants - all of which are
answered by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Public employers
should not ordinarily be denying the CCL to a mother unless it is for
compelling and overriding public interest considerations. It could not have
been in a case where the child was suffering. The discretion for granting
CCL should be exercised liberally by the employers, keeping its objective
and underlying purposes in mind.”
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28. In view of the aforesaid discussion, in our opinion, the appeal deserves
to be allowed.
29. Resultantly, the appeal is allowed and the impugned order dated
08.08.2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) 11903/2025 is set
aside.
30. The respondent School is directed to consider the prayer for grant of
CCL made by the appellant afresh and decide the same with expedition.
31. Pending application(s), if any, stand disposed of.
32. There shall be no orders as to costs.
(DEVENDRA KUMAR UPADHYAYA)
CHIEF JUSTICE
(TEJAS KARIA)
JUDGE
JUNE 04, 2026/MJ
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