It is not clear to me whether you availed the leave of 625 days at a stretch or in different spells spreading over the entire service. In any case, I am afraid that your employer failed to understand the term 'continuous service' defined in Section 2-A of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, because of the words "actually worked" occurring in subsections (2) and (3) of Section 2-A. These subsections are deeming provisions and as such will come into play only in the event of impossibility of calculation as per section (1) of Section 2-A. Yours is a case squarely falling within section (1). It is immaterial whether the leave was with or without wages; what is important is that it should have been authorized. A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has already held in Kothari Industrial Corporation v. Appellate Authority (1998) 1 LLN 121 that mere absence from duty without leave cannot be said to result in breach of continuity of service for the purpose of the Act. What is essential is that the period of absence should not be one of cessation of the relationship of employer and employee. Therefore, you are entitled to gratuity. Send a notice to your employer in the form prescribed under the State Rules; in case of non-compliance or refusal, file your claim before the concerned Controlling Authority under the Act.