​Thiruvananthapuram: In an unprecedented order issued on Friday, the Office of the Chief Commissioner of Central  Tax, Central Excise and Customs, Thiruvananthapuram Zone, has denied leave to all its officers and staff in Kerala during Eid: March 29 (Saturday), 30 (Sunday) and 31 (Monday). 

"It is informed that the supervisory officers may not grant leave or permission to the officers on the above mentioned days," the order from the Office of the Chief Commissioner says.

The order will prevent even Muslim employees from taking leave during Eid. Kerala is the only region in the country where an office order has been issued asking seniors to refuse leave. 

Chief Commissioner S K Rahman's order came close on the heels of a circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to all principal chief commissioners and chief commissioners of CGST in the country. This circular merely says that the three days (March 29, 30 and 31) will be working days.  

"All field formations of Central Goods and Services Tax(CGST) shall remain open on March 29, 30 and 31 and the same will be treated as working days. You are requested to bring the above to the notice of all officers and staff working under your jurisdiction for compliance."

Top customs officials Onmanorama talked to said this was a routine annual working arrangement made to moderate the additional work burden that would fall on officers and staff at the end of a fiscal year. "But this had never meant that the faithful cannot take leave," a senior customs official said.

 There is a feeling among officials in Kerala that the chief commissioner has unnecessarily introduced a prohibitory clause in a routine rescheduling of work. 

The principal chief commissioner, Chennai Zone, has also issued an order on Friday. "All the officers and staff of Chennai GST Zone are hereby informed that, in view of the closure of the financial year 2024-25, all field formations of Chennai CGST Zone will remain open on March 29, 30 and 31 and the same shall be treated as working days," it says. But nothing else. There is no blunt order to supervisory officers to deny leave.

 The Chief Commissioner, Thiruvananthapuram Zone, was not available for comment.

MP John Brittas seeks centre's intervention
CPM's Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas shot off a letter to union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying "this blanket prohibition is deeply unjustified". He urged her to take urgent corrective action.

"Religious freedom and the right to observe significant festivals are fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. An outright denial of holidays and leave for offices, even for genuine religious obligations, places undue hardship on them," Brittas said in the letter. He said that such an approach would foster a sense of alienation and grievance among affected officers. 

The CPM MP also said that the order contradicted the Centre's notified Holiday List and mocked at the principles that informed the observance of gazetted holidays.