New Delhi: In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a law which said a woman would be eligible for maternity leave if she legally adopts a child below the age of three months.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that an adoptive mother should be entitled to maternity leave of 12 weeks, irrespective of the age of the adopted child.
“Section 60(4) of the 2020 Code, insofar as it puts an age limit of three months on the age of the adoptive child for the adoptive mother to avail maternity benefit, is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution,” the bench said.
“The purpose of maternity protection does not vary with the way the child is brought into the life of the mother. Women adopting an older child are similarly placed as women who adopt a child less than three months old,” the top court clarified.
The judgment was on a PIL filed by advocate Hamsanandini Nanduri, who contended that the age-based restriction was arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court also asked the Central government to bring a law recognising paternal leave as a social security benefit.
