The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a big decision regarding ‘maternity leave’. It said that now all mothers adopting a child will be able to get maternity leave. During the hearing, the apex court also repealed the legal provision under which leave was provided only on adoption of a child up to 3 months of age.

The Supreme Court declared the old legal rule unconstitutional and considered it a violation of the right to equality (Article 14 of the Constitution). All adoptive mothers, irrespective of the age of the child, will be entitled to 12 weeks leave from the date of adoption. The court said that the old rule is discriminatory for both mother and child.

The court has also said that motherhood is a fundamental human right. It cannot be limited in this way.

Supreme Court decision

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said, ‘Adoption is an equally good way of forming a family… Biological factors alone cannot determine the values ​​and rights of a family.’ The bench has discussed the rights of the adopted child in its decision. He has said that it is the child’s right to receive mother’s love. It takes time for him to connect with his new family. Under Article 21 of the Constitution, children and parents have the right to a dignified life, but this law violates that too.

Asked the central government to consider

The Supreme Court asked the Central Government to consider introducing maternity leave as a means of social welfare. The petitioner had basically challenged the constitutional validity of Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act 1961. During the hearing, the Supreme Court was told that the Social Security Code implemented in 2020 has replaced the 1961 law. The same is written in its Section 60(4) as was written in Section 5(4) of the 1961 Act.

Court canceled the section

Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code of 2020 provides for a maximum of 12 weeks of maternity leave for women adopting a child, but this benefit is only for those women who have adopted a child less than 3 months of age. This section was struck down by the Supreme Court, declaring it unconstitutional.