ASKWB

Pls see the provisions of Rules 38 and 39 of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 :
38. Leave preparatory to retirement
(1) A Government servant may be permitted by the authority competent to grant leave to take leave preparatory to retirement to the extent of earned leave due, not exceeding 1[300 days] together with half pay leave due, subject to the condition that such leave extends up to and ncludes the date of retirement.
NOTE.- The leave granted as leave preparatory to retirement shall not include extraordinary leave.
(2) (a) Where a Government servant who is on foreign service in or under any Local Authority or a Corporation or Company wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Government or a Body controlled or financed by the Government (hereinafter referred to as the local body) applies for leave preparatory to retirement, the decision to grant or refuse such leave shall be taken by foreign employer with the concurrence of the lending authority under Central Government.
(b) The Government servant on foreign service shall also be allowed to encash earned leave at his credit on the date of retirement in the manner provided in sub-rule (2) of Rule 39.
(c) Deleted.
(3) Where a Government servant is on foreign service in or under a local body other than the one mentioned in Clause (a) of sub-rule (2), leave preparatory to retirement shall be admissible to him only when he quits duty under the foreign employer:
Provided that where the Government servant continues in service under such foreign employer, the Government servant shall not be eligible
for grant of cash payment in lieu of leave under Rule 39.
39. Leave/Cash payment in lieu of leave beyond the date of retirement, compulsory retirement or quitting of service
(1) No leave shall be granted to a Government servant beyond-
(a) the date of his retirement, or
(b) the date of his final cessation of duties, or
(c) the date on which he retires by giving notice to Government or he is retired by Government by giving him notice or pay and allowances in lieu of such notice, in accordance with the terms and conditions of his service, or
(d) the date of his resignation from service.
Source: http://persmin.gov.in/DOPT/EmployeesCorner/Acts_Rules/ccs_leave_rules.pdf

Thank you friend! You reappear before us after a long silence! Good for forum.
point d. Since, there is provision for an employee to remain on leave till the date of superannuation he is supposed to apply for commuted leave along with doctor’s certificate (for illness). If no commuted leave stands out at credit, he may apply for EL. Last option is probably Extra Ordinary Leave.

Valid point! Critical situation!
Commuted Leave cannot be granted as Leave Preparatory to Retirement as per Rule 30(1)(a) of CCS (Leave) Rules. Same is true for EOL.

Sanctioning of commuted leave is done when one reports for duty with a certificate from a doctor regarding his fitness to resume duty.

Do you want to mean Ex-post facto sanction of commuted leave? It may be a special consideration! In fact, Rule 30(1)(a) stipulates that HPL is sanctioned when “the authority competent to grant leave is satisfied that there is reasonable prospect of the Government servant returning to duty on its expiry.” So, normally HPL is granted on production of illness certificate at the time of commencement of leave and, not on production of fitness certificate for post facto sanction after absence. If the Govt. servant unfortunately dies in the period of absence and before date of superannuation, without submitting commuted leave application & fitness certificate the entire period will be treated as dies non (unauthorised absence), leading to a complicated situation!
Moreover, Rule 30(2) makes the situation clear. When a Govt. servant who has been sanctioned commuted leave does not return to duty due to resignation/VRS, the commuted leave shall be treated as HPL and, excess leave salary be recovered provided retirement is NOT due to ill-health incapacitating him for further service or he does not expire. Again, beyond the date of retirement on superannuation there is no question of allowing leave salary to the Govt. servant. Therefore, when the authority knows the date of his retirement, it cannot sanction commuted leave as there is NO prospect for returning to duty on expiry of the leave.
Since (1) he has HPL due to his credit, (2) HPL can be availed of either with or without medical certificate as per Rule 29(4) and, (3) there is no such compulsion of returning to duty on its expiry the Govt. servant may be asked to apply afresh for HPL in lieu of Commuted Leave till the date of retirement to regularise period of absence within administrative constraints.
Therefore, ‘leave preparatory to retirement’ does not make it mandatory for the Govt. servant to return to duty on expiry of leave.

Dear friend,
I fully agree. I think it is very common practice in almost all the offices. If there is genuine cause, the office always considers the case of an employee favourably and tries to regularise the period of absence of an employee by post facto sanction of leave if it is not sanctioned earlier.
Yes, it is difficult to declare the exact date/ time of recovery from illness in a definitive way. A doctor can predict only! Therefore, in his illness certificate, merely a TENTATIVE date can be indicated which will enable the employee (patient) to apply for Commuted Leave on medical ground for a TENTATIVE period. Once leave is sanctioned beforehand for a particular period it can be extended subsequently through submission of another application with doctor’s certificate (for continuance of illness) if needed. If the sanctioning authority is convinced of the genuineness of the ground, the period of absence can be extended subsequently through further sanction of that leave (example: EL) or by combining with other kinds of leaves (example: Commuted Leave + EL) as admissible under rules. This is also very common practice.
With regards.