The Supreme Court on Friday
ruled that maternity leave is a component of a woman’s reproductive rights,
setting aside a Madras High Court order that had denied leave to a woman for
the birth of her third child.
A bench comprising Justices
Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed, “We have delved into the concept of reproductive
rights and have held that maternity benefits are a part of reproductive rights,
and maternity leave is integral to maternity benefits. Therefore, the impugned
order has been set aside.”
The apex court was hearing a
petition filed by a government school teacher in Tamil Nadu, who was denied
maternity leave for the birth of her first child from a second marriage.
The
petitioner argued that she had not availed maternity leave for her first two
children, who were from a previous marriage and born before she joined
government service. Custody of those children remains with their father.
Tamil
Nadu's service rules restrict maternity benefits to the first two surviving
children, which was the basis of the state’s denial.
HC first allowed,
then reversed the relief
The woman had initially
approached the Madras High Court, where a single-judge bench of Justice V
Parthiban ruled in her favour and directed the state to grant her one year of
maternity leave from October 11, 2021, to October 10, 2022.
The
judge had held that the state rule was in conflict with the Maternity Benefit
Act, 1961, a central law, and therefore void under Article 254 of the
Constitution, which states that central law prevails over conflicting state
laws.
However,
the state government challenged the order, and a division bench of the High
Court reversed it. The division bench ruled that maternity leave was a
statutory—not fundamental—right, and that the central legislation did not apply
to government employees, who are governed by their own service rules.
The
Supreme Court’s ruling now reinstates the woman’s right to maternity leave,
placing it within the ambit of reproductive rights and clarifying that such
benefits must align with constitutional protections.