In Brief
A retired Air Force Wing Commander challenged the recovery of pay and allowances drawn during two years of study leave, arguing either that premature retirement on medical grounds should exempt him from the service guarantee, or that recovery should be proportionate to the 6 years 8 months he actually served post-leave. The Supreme Court upheld the full recovery, finding that illness was not the main ground for his premature retirement, and that the service guarantee certificate—a statutory condition—required full repayment regardless of partial service. The Court distinguished cases involving contractual liquidated damages, holding that this recovery was of actual wages paid for non-work, not damages, and rejected the discrimination claim as improperly raised without prior pleading.
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