Supreme Court of India has struck down a
provision regarding maternity for
adoptive mothers
¨
Supreme Court of India
has struck down a provision regarding maternity leave for adoptive mothers.
¨
Under this law, leave was
restricted based on the age of the child.
¨ Specifically, benefits
were granted only if the adopted child was under three months of age.
¨ The Court removed this
age-related condition. It ruled that adoptive mothers are entitled to 12 weeks
of maternity leave.
¨
This rule will apply
universally, regardless of the child's age at the time of adoption.
¨ This verdict was
delivered by a bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R.
Mahadevan.
¨
The bench observed that
maternity-related benefits should not be contingent upon age restrictions.
¨ The Court stated that
such social security measures ought to be more comprehensive and inclusive.
¨
The Court affirmed that
the rights of adoptive mothers are on par with those of biological mothers.
¨
It further noted that
their responsibilities are also identical to those of biological mothers.
¨
The Court emphasized the
necessity of according them equal recognition as parents.
¨
The Court directed the
Central Government to consider provisions regarding paternity leave.
¨
It suggested that
paternity leave should be viewed as a social security benefit.
¨
The case involved a
challenge to a specific section of the 'Code on Social Security, 2020'.
¨ This particular provision was Section 60(4), which was the very section that imposed the age-related restriction.
¨ With this verdict, the maternity leave rights of adoptive mothers in India have been significantly expanded.
