Maternity leave part of reproductive rights; SC sets aside Madras HC order

The top court ruled in favour of a Tamil Nadu teacher denied leave for her first child from second marriage, calling maternity benefits a fundamental right

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 case 

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, as reported by LiveLaw.

 

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.