Govt staff pregnant for third time entitled to get maternity leave: HC

Observing that as per the law there is no ceiling on the number of children to avail the maternity benefits, the Madras High Court on Friday directed the state government to grant one-year maternity leave for a government school teacher who is pregnant from her second marriage and to have her third child.

Justice V Parthiban passed the direction on hearing the petition moved by S Umadevi. The petitioner prayed for direction from the court to the respondents to consider her application and grant maternity leave for her third delivery. “As long as the central enactment has not placed any restrictions on the number of children for the purpose of availing maternity benefits, no other rule or regulations can put any fetters on such claim, ” the judge held while directing the state to provide maternity leave to the teacher from October 11, 2021 to October 10, 2022.

Advocate Arul Anbumani, appearing for the petitioner submitted that as far as the government service is concerned, the petitioner was giving birth for the first time, as the earlier two children were born from the first wedlock, prior to her entering into the government service in 2012. “As provisions of Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 does not impose any such condition for availing maternity benefit,” he added.

On recording the submissions, the judge further noted that the government has issued an order on June 20, 2018 wherein the maternity benefit has been extended to second delivery, even if a woman government servant had given birth to twins in the first delivery.

“The government, therefore, recognised such extreme cases. Considering the peculiar and singular facts and circumstances of the case, the court holds that the petitioner is deemed to have not having two surviving children, inviting disqualification for claiming the maternity benefit, ” the judge added.

The petitioner working as English teacher in a govet school in P Gollapatti, Dharmapuri district. She got married in 2006 and hadt two children from her first marriage. In 2017, she divorced her first husband and married again in 2018. Pregnant through her second marriage she applied for maternity leave. However, the application was rejected stating she already had two children and was ineligible to get leave for the third child.