The Andhra High Court judgment rather lays down:
Andhra High Court
Kothari Industrial Corporation, ... vs Appellate Authority Under The ... on 12 September, 1997
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/762511/
5. Section 2(c) of the Act states that "continuous service" means continuous service as defined in Section 2-A(sic.). Section 2-A of the Act is as follows :-
10………………… and the question of counting the actual working days in respect of them does not arise. As a result, we find that the contention raised by the petitioner is totally meritless. The whole case of the petitioner was based on Lakshmi Vishnu Textile Mills Ltd. case (supra) which as pointed out already has been overcome by the Legislature itself by amendment in the Act by bringing in Section 2-A on the statute book, In result, both the writ petitions are, in our view, totally meritless and deserve to be dismissed.
It has been discussed in following thread;
https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/Steps-to-submit-form-i-in-payment-of-gratuity-act-1972-116100.asp#.VS_tbNyUcqM
and judgment can also be downloaded......
You may also draw the attention to word' WHOEVER' avoids to pay Gratuity .....................and penalty of Rs.20000/ and punishment with jail time as in Sec:9................