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Synopsis

In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court has emphasised the importance of employers showing empathy towards pregnant working women, while directing the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to grant maternity benefits to a female employee, overturning the rejection of her application for maternity leave.

A division bench comprising Justice AS Chandurkar and Justice  Jitendra Jain made the observation that “To become a mother is the most natural phenomenon in the life of a woman. Whatever is needed to facilitate the birth of child to a woman who is in service, the employer has to be considerate and sympathetic towards her and must realise the physical difficulties which a working woman would face in performing her duties at the workplace while carrying a baby in the womb or while rearing up the child after birth.”

The case, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, pertained to communications issued by the AAI rejecting the employee's maternity leave application on the grounds of having more than two surviving children, as per AAI Leave Regulations 2003.

The petitioner, identified as Petitioner No.2 and represented by Advocates Pavitra Mahesh and Meelan Topkar, married for the first tome and had one child from the wedlock in 1997. However, her first husband passed away in 2000, after which she secured a job with the AAI on compassionate grounds in 2004. Subsequently, she remarried and gave birth to two children, one in 2009 and another in 2012. Her application for maternity leave after the birth of her second child was rejected by the AAI on the basis of exceeding the limit of two surviving children.

The petitioners argued that the AAI regulations shouldn't apply to Petitioner No.2, as she had only given birth to two children after joining the organisation. They emphasised the objective of maternity leave and her failure to avail it during her first childbirth, asserting that she was entitled to maternity benefits upon her second child's birth.

Advocate Ahmed Padela, appearing for the AAI contended that Petitioner No.2, having two surviving children at the time of her third childbirth, wasn't eligible for maternity benefits under the regulations. They maintained that the focus should be on the number of children born to her, making her ineligible for maternity leave.

After reviewing submissions and pertinent regulations, the court delved into the purpose of maternity leave, stressing its significance in ensuring just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief as mandated by Article 42 of the Constitution. It elucidated that “The objective of this Regulation is to give maternity leave benefit and not to curb the population.”

The court ruled in favour of the petitioner, emphasising her entitlement to maternity leave benefits as she had only given birth to two children during her service with the AAI and had applied for maternity leave after her second childbirth.

“The role of the Court is to understand the purpose of law in society and to help the law achieve its purpose. When social reality changes, the law must change too. The Regulation with which we are concerned being beneficial Regulation, same should be interpreted liberally keeping in mind the objective and purpose for which same is engrafted. The respect and protection of woman and of maternity should be raised to the position of an inalienable social duty and should become one of the principles of human morality,” the court said.

Furthermore, the court pointed out that the petitioner had not previously claimed maternity benefits for her child born in 2009, applying for them only after the birth of her third child in 2012. Hence, the court deemed the AAI's refusal unjustified and ordered the granting of maternity benefits to the woman within eight weeks.

 

Cause Title: Airport Authority of India Workers Union & Anr. v. Union of India & Anr. [WRIT PETITION No.8744 OF 2015]