The order issued by the Office of the Chief Commissioner of Central  Tax, Central Excise and Customs, Thiruvananthapuram Zone, on March 28, denying leave to all its officers and staff in Kerala during Eid (March 29, 30, 31) has been scrapped.

A revised order issued on Saturday said that the portion in the March 28 order asking supervisory officers not to grant leave to the officers and staff in Kerala during the three days "may be treated as cancelled."

There was a concern that the March 28 order would prevent even Muslim employees from taking leave during Eid. Kerala was the only region in the country where an office order was issued asking seniors to refuse leave.

Chief Commissioner S K Rahman issued the order right after his office received a circular from the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBCID). This circular, to all principal chief commissioners and chief commissioners across India, merely said that the three days (March 29, 30 and 31) will be working days. 

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 was a feeling among officials in Kerala that the chief commissioner had unnecessarily introduced a prohibitory clause in a routine rescheduling of work. Other principal chief commissioners and chief commissioners in the country had also informed their offices that the three days would be working days. But they did not issue a decree prohibiting leave.

CPM's Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas shot off a letter to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 28, urging 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.