Rajasthan High Court Allows Second Maternity Leave for Third Child, Gives Relief to Woman Employee
The Rajasthan High Court has given relief to a woman government employee who was denied her second maternity leave during service. The leave was rejected because the child for whom she sought leave was her third biological child.
Justice Rekha Borana observed that maternity leave entitlement of a woman government employee should not be interpreted in a narrow manner. The court said that since the woman was seeking maternity leave for only the second time during her government service, it could not be denied simply because the child was her third biological child.
First Child Was Born Before Government Service
The woman had her first child before she joined government service. After joining service, she gave birth to her second child and took maternity leave for that child.
Later, she was divorced and remarried. From her second marriage, she gave birth to her third biological child. She then applied for maternity leave for this child.
Maternity Leave Was Denied
The authorities rejected her request for maternity leave on the ground that the child was her third biological child. The service records already contained details of her first two children.
The woman challenged the decision before the Rajasthan High Court and sought maternity leave for her third child.
Court Examines Rajasthan Service Rules
The High Court referred to Rules 103 and 103C of the Rajasthan Service Rules, 1951. The court observed that a female government employee is entitled to maternity leave on two occasions during her entire period of service.
The court therefore focused on the number of maternity leaves taken during government service rather than simply counting the woman’s total number of biological children.
Supreme Court Judgment Also Considered
The court also referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in K. Umadevi v. Government of Tamil Nadu & Ors.
The Supreme Court had observed that maternity leave should be understood in the context of childbirth being a natural part of life. Courts should try to give effect to the purpose and intention of the law rather than interpret provisions in a way that prevents their application.
Court Explains When Leave Could Have Been Denied
The High Court said that the situation would have been different if the woman had already taken maternity leave twice for her children from her first marriage and then sought a third maternity leave for the child from her second marriage.
However, that was not the situation in the present case. The woman had taken maternity leave only once during her government service, for her second child.
Therefore, the court held that her request for maternity leave for her third biological child was actually her second maternity leave during service.
Rajasthan High Court Allows Petition
The Rajasthan High Court held that the woman’s maternity leave could not be denied merely because the child was her third biological child.
The court allowed the petition and directed the State authorities to grant maternity leave to the woman employee.
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