The Kerala High Court has ruled that maternity leave is a right and cannot be combined with regular leave. This is an important Court order related to females working in India.
A trainee of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) was on leave for quite some time. First she was on maternity leave and later she took leave for her treatment. The organisation said the leaves exceeded the limit permitted and her candidature was cancelled. The victim then approached Kerala High Court.
The trainee was selected for a DrNB course through the NEET Super Specialty examination after completing her MBBS and MD.
During her training, she took maternity leave for six months (184 days). Along with some other regular leave, her total leave came to 207 days. Later, she was diagnosed with Stage IV lymphoma cancer and had to undergo treatment for about 195 days.
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She expected to rejoin her course by March 2026. However, this would cause her total leave to exceed the permitted limit by 37 days.
She submitted a leave application, but it was rejected. She was asked to re-submit the application so that her total leave did not cross one year. She was informed that her total leave would become 402 days. Under Clause 7(c) of the Comprehensive Leave Rules for NBEMS trainees, leave exceeding one year leads to cancellation of candidature.
Aggrieved by this, she approached the High Court. She requested the Court to allow special leave and extend her training period so that she could complete her super specialty course. She also requested the court to cancel the orders of the organisation rejecting her leave request.
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NBEMS opposed her plea. It stated that under the leave rules issued on 22 November 2024, any trainee taking leave beyond one year would lose their candidature. It also argued that the matter involved discretion and the Court should not interfere.
The petitioner argued that the new rules were not in force when she joined the course. She said the earlier rules should apply to her case.
The High Court noted that it usually does not interfere in academic matters. However, it said this was an exceptional case that required a special approach.
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The Court held that maternity leave is a right and cannot be treated like regular leave. It observed that maternity leave and medical leave taken in rare and unavoidable circumstances cannot be clubbed together to cancel a trainee’s candidature.
The Court said the one-year leave limit cannot be applied rigidly in such exceptional cases. It ruled that the leave rules should not be applied mechanically to the petitioner.
The Court directed that the petitioner be allowed to submit a fresh leave application. NBEMS was asked to consider it keeping in mind the special facts of the case. The Court also ordered that the petitioner should not be removed from the course in the meantime.
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