A Working Woman’s Statutory Right To Maternity Leave Cannot Be Taken Away: SC

The Supreme Court of India declared that an employed woman has a statutory right to avail of maternity leave and it cannot be denied. If a woman wants to take maternity leave for her biological baby, even if she has taken it before to take care of her husband’s children from a previous marriage, it still can’t be denied.

A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said, “Childbirth has to be construed in the context of employment as a natural aspect of the life of the working women. Hence, the provision which has been made should be construed in that perspective.”

The court expressed disappointment in the fact that despite maternity leaves being a legal right, women are still forced to drop out of the workforce after childbirth. The bench added that the state should provide for the protection of the interest of the women.

This decision was held in the hearing of a plea of a nurse at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. Her application for maternity leave for her only biological child was denied because her husband had two children from his previous marriage and she had taken the leave to take care of one of them after his wife had passed away.

The bench held that maternity leaves ensure a woman doesn’t lose her financial security when taking care of her child after giving birth. In this case, the woman is entitled to a childcare leave, which she took to look after them. And her maternity rights shouldn’t be affected by that. The bench said that “the fact that he (her spouse) had two-biological children from a prior marriage would not impinge upon the statutory entitlement of the appellant for grant of maternity leave for her sole biological child in the present case.”