Maternity Leave Integral Part Of Women's Reproductive Rights: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that maternity leave is an integral component of maternity benefits and a vital part of women's reproductive rights. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan said that no institution could deprive a woman of her right to maternity leave.

The top court made the judgment while hearing a petition filed by a Tamil Nadu woman, a government teacher, who was denied maternity leave after the birth of her child from her second marriage.

According to the woman, she was denied leave on the grounds that she already had two children from her first marriage.

Tamil Nadu has a rule that the maternity benefits will be extended to only the first two children.

However, the woman noted that she had not availed of any maternity leave or benefits for her first two children because she was not working at that time. She said that she started working only after her second marriage and now wanted to avail the benefits for her third child.

Advocate KV Muthukumar, representing the petitioner, said that the state's decision not to grant her maternity leave violated her fundamental rights as she did not get Tamil Nadu's maternity benefit provisions earlier.

The Supreme Court, siding with the petitioner, expanded the scope of maternity benefits, saying maternity leave would now be recognised as part of basic reproductive rights.

Under the maternity leave policy, any woman who was due was able to take up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave after the baby was delivered. In 2017, significant amendments were made to the Maternity Benefit Act on the Supreme Court's orders, with the maternity leave increased to 26 weeks for all women employees.

Additionally, women who have adopted a child are also entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave.