Government must treat 3rd maternity leave on par with 1st two: High Court

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court held that the government cannot discriminate in granting maternity benefits to its employees for the third pregnancy.

Shayee Nisha, an employee of the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal at Tindivanam in Villupuram district, had applied to the principal district judge, Villupuram, seeking maternity leave for her third delivery from February to February 2027.

However, her application was rejected through an order dated March 27 passed by the Principal District Judge, Villupuram, citing the human resources management department’s directive dated March 13, asking her to rejoin duty on April 27.

Aggrieved by the order, Shayee Nisha challenged the directive before the Madras High Court. Delivering its verdict on Tuesday, a division bench, comprising Justices R Suresh Kumar and N Senthil Kumar, came down heavily on the judicial authorities for failing to grasp the underlying principle behind orders passed by the high court and the Supreme Court in similar cases in the past and repeatedly rejecting employees’ pleas for maternity benefits for third pregnancies.

The court directed the registrar general of the Madras High Court to circulate its order to all judicial officers in the district judiciary directing strict compliance in similar cases in the future.

The court said that maternity leave for the third pregnancy has been restricted to 12 weeks, that is three months, and such restrictions made by the government is against the dictum of the Supreme Court and the high court and, hence, cannot be approved.

The bench noted that in every pregnancy, whether first, second or third, the suffering is the same and deserves equal care prepartum as well as postpartum; therefore, the government cannot show any discrimination while approving maternity benefits for the third pregnancy.

Terming the government’s 12-week limit on maternity leave for the third pregnancy unjustifiable, the bench set aside the order of the principal district judge, Villupuram, and directed the petitioner’s application for maternity leave equal to the first and second pregnancies to be granted.