Subsistence allowance during suspension cannot be denied unless the required non-employment certificate was first demanded and not furnished.

A suspended government servant remains entitled to subsistence allowance under Rule 96 of the Bihar Service Code because suspension does not sever the employer-employee relationship. Rule 96(2) permits the State to require a certificate that the employee is not engaged in other employment, business, profession or vocation, but the allowance cannot be denied unless that certificate was first demanded and then not supplied. The text also makes clear that there is no rule requiring a suspended employee to mark attendance at headquarters. The stated effect is that subsistence allowance could not be refused on the grounds relied upon by the respondents.

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Issues: Whether a suspended government servant was entitled to subsistence allowance under Rule 96 of the Bihar Service Code, and whether such allowance could be denied for want of a certificate that he was not engaged in any other employment, business, profession or vocation or for not marking attendance at the headquarters.

Analysis: Rule 96(1) entitles a government servant under suspension to subsistence allowance for the period of suspension. Rule 96(2) only requires a certificate that the suspended employee is not engaged elsewhere. There is no rule requiring a suspended employee to mark attendance at the headquarters. The State may ask for the certificate, but cannot reject the claim on that ground unless the requirement is made and not complied with. The continuation of the employer-employee relationship during suspension supports the entitlement to subsistence allowance.

Conclusion: The claim for subsistence allowance could not be denied on the grounds relied upon by the respondents, and the appellant was entitled to receive the amount due to her deceased husband.

Ratio Decidendi: A suspended employee remains entitled to subsistence allowance, and the State cannot deny it merely because a certificate under the relevant rule was not furnished unless that certificate was first called for.

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