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Deepika Singh vs Central Administrative Tribunal on 16 August, 2022

19. From the perusal of the Preamble of the Act, Section 5 (1), third proviso to sub-section 3 of Section 5, sub-section 4 of Section 5, it is more than apparent that the Maternity Benefit can be extended even after birth of a child. It can even be extended in a case of a legal adoption of a child or less than three months. The only restriction being that the maternity leave may not be granted for entire 180 days or 26 weeks. Further, in the opinion of the Court, availability of Child Care Leave to the petitioner or grant of the same cannot dis-entitle the petitioner for grant of maternity benefit. Maternity benefit and Child Care Leave both operate in different fields and are mutually exclusive. The Apex Court in a recent case reported in AIR 2022 SC 4108 (Deepika Singh versus Central Administrative Tribunal and others) held that independent of the grant of maternity leave, a women is also entitled to the grant of Child Care Leave for taking care of her two eldest surviving children whether for rearing or for looking after any of their needs, such as education, sickness and the like. Child Care Leave can be availed of not only at the point when the child is born but at any subsequent period. Both constitute distinct entitlements. A purposive interpretation is required to be adopted. The object and intent of the grant of maternity leave would stand defeated. The grant of maternity leave is intended to facilitate the continuance of women in the work place. It is a harsh reality that but for such provisions many women would be compelled by social circumstances to give up work on the birth of the child if they are not granted leave and other facilitative measures. No employer can perceive child birth as detracting from the purpose of employment. Child birth has to be construed in the context of employment as a natural incident of life and the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act are required to be construed in that perspective.
Supreme Court of India Cites 22 - Cited by 15 - D Y Chandrachud - Full Document
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