On Woman Judge's Plea For Childcare Leave, Jharkhand Court's Response

A woman judge in Jharkhand who challenged the High Court's decision to curtail her childcare leave, or CCL, cannot take more than what she has been offered, the High Court has informed the Supreme Court. Doing that will set a precedent and affect the district judiciary, the top court has been told.

The Additional District Judge, a single parent, has contended that she had sought six months out of the 730 days she is allowed. 

Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked Jharkhand High Court to reconsider the matter. The judges said it was better that the high court revisit the issue, since the top court's directions could set a precedent. The court had sought a response from the Jharkhand government and the high court registry on May 29.

Today, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan -- hearing the submissions of the Jharkhand high court and the judge's counsels -- issued a fresh notice to the High Court when she flagged that after she moved top court, some adverse remarks were made in her Annual Confidential Report, suggesting performance counselling.

The high court said it has reconsidered her prayers and granted her 92 days of CCL but granting more (total 8 months) will become a precedent and impact district judiciary. The judge had sought 194 days more days.

The judicial officer had sought leave from June and December in view of her child's exam. 

According to the Childcare Leave Rules applicable to the judicial officers, the judge is entitled to up to 730 days of leave during her service tenure and she sought six months of the entitlement, she has argued in her petition.

"She is a single parent from the lowest strata of society," the judge's lawyer said, and underscored her "impressive" service record in which she had disposed of over 4,000 cases in over two-and-a-half years.
"It is submitted that the Petitioner's application for grant of leave was mechanically rejected without assigning any valid reason, whereas the application of another judicial officer for grant of CCL was approved by the Hon'ble Jharkhand High Court at Ranchi. Such differential treatment, without assigning any reason may also violate the mandate of Article 14 of the Constitution of India," the plea read.

The judge also contended that after completing three years in Hazaribagh, she had applied for transfer to Bokaro or Ranchi, citing that those places offer better prospects of education for her son, who wanted to do his plus-two in science. He was to get admission for Class 11 in March. But her request was not granted and she was transferred to Dumka -- 230 km from Hazaribagh that takes 8 hours of travel by train.

The top court will again hear the matter after 4 weeks.