Employee who went on EL sometime mid February which is before the cut off date for salary calculation

I have an employee who went on EL sometime mid February which is before the cut off date for salary calculation. The management has decided to treat the EL as Unpaid leave and my staff only deducted end March salary. Can we deducted the unpaid leave the following month? This is my question.

Normally, EL or any leave taken after the cut off period for salary calculation will be deducted in the subsequent month. But in your case, the EL was taken before the cut off period. Then why is it marked as loss of pay leave, I don't understand. If leave is not granted, deduct it in the month of taking itself since the leave was taken before the salary cut off date or if it was taken after the cut off date, deduct it in the month following. Can you make it clear?

"The management has decided to treat the EL as Unpaid leave" has this decision been communicated to the employee?

Moreover, it is the general principle that the while the employer (or the authority concerned) can deny sanction of leave at its discretion based on the exigencies of the situation, it is not open to such authority approve another type of leave other than the one applied for.

This aspect is all the more relevant in the instant case as the arbitrary decision has been of civil consequences to the employee concerned.

It is equally crucial whether the decision has been communicated expeditiously to the employee so that he/she could have the opportunity to reconsider his/her request for availing of leave.