Benefit of Maternity Leave Under Maternity Benefit Act Can Be Extended Even After Childbirth: Allahabad High Court
The Act of 1961 was enacted to secure women's right to pregnancy and maternity leave and to afford women with as much flexibility as possible to live an autonomous life, both as a mother and as a worker, if they so desire, Court said.
The Allahabad High Court recently held that the maternity benefit under the Maternity Benefit Act 1961 including maternity leave can be extended even after the birth of a child.
"It can even be extended in a case of a legal adoption of a child or less than three months. The only restriction being that the maternity leave may not be granted for entire 180 days or 26 weeks," observed the single judge bench of Justice Ashutosh Srivastava.
Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by the Headmistress of a Primary School for quashing the orders passed by District Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Etah whereby the sanction of her maternity leave had been turned down. The reason given was that after childbirth, maternity leave is not allowed and now the woman was only eligible for Child Care Leave according to the rules.
The woman had given birth on October 15 last year and immediately after being discharged from the hospital, she applied for maternity leave from October 18, 2022, to April 15, 2023. Her first application got rejected on the ground of incomplete documents, thereafter, her second application dated October 30, 2022, got rejected as well on the ground of maternity leave being not allowed after childbirth.
The woman's counsel argued that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 had been enacted by the Parliament to regulate the employment of women for certain period before and after child birth and to provide for maternity leave benefit and certain other benefits.
Denial of the maternity leave to the petitioner on the ground that the child had already been born and she was not entitled to the maternity leave was per se illegal and erroneous, he contended.
The counsel further asserted that the Child Care Leave is distinct to the maternity benefit and operates in different fields and relegating the petitioner to avail of Child Care Leave was totally unwarranted.
The plea was, however, opposed by the counsel for the respondent authorities, but the court held that from the perusal of the Preamble of the Act, Section 5 (1), third proviso to sub-section 3 of Section 5, sub-section 4 of Section 5, it is more than apparent that the Maternity Benefit can be extended even after birth of a child.
Court added that the availability of Child Care Leave to the petitioner or grant of the same could not dis-entitled her for grant of maternity benefit.
Therefore, the court held that the District Basic Education Officer, Etah while rejecting the claim of the petitioner had overlooked the provisions of Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Accordingly, court set aside the impugned orders and directed the Officer to pass fresh orders keeping in mind the provisions of the Act.
Case Title: Saroj Kumari v. State Of U.P. And 5 Others
Statute: The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961