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Mint
an hour ago
- Politics
- Mint
Orissa High Court's BIG remark: Contractual employees entitled to maternity leave
Rejecting a writ appeal of the state government, a Division Bench of Orissa High Court recently upheld a three-year-old judgment passed by a single-judge Bench stating that maternity leave and associated benefits cannot be denied to a woman employed by the state on contractual basis. In a recent ruling, the Division Bench of Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo affirmed the August 2022 decision of a single-judge Bench, which had ruled in favour of a contractual employee of the Health and Family Welfare Department whose maternity leave application from August 17, 2016, to February 12, 2017 had been rejected by her department. The employee, being governed by the terms of a contract, was not entitled to maternity benefits, the state government had argued while challenging the earlier decision. However, the Division Bench declined to accept this position and upheld the reasoning of the single-judge ruling. "Maternity leave with pay or comparable social benefits are to be assured by the state through its policies and programmes, as India is a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)," the court observed. The Bench emphasised the social significance of maternity and the fundamental role of both parents in child-rearing. "It is said that God could not be everywhere and therefore, he created mothers. The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between a lactating mother and a breastfeeding baby," the judgment stated. Citing the views of child psychiatrists and obstetricians, the HC noted that physical companionship between mother and child is mutually beneficial and promotes healthy bonding, which is essential for their wellbeing. "A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, the baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought up in a reasonably good condition. These two important rights form an amalgam from which the state's obligation to provide maternity benefits, such as paid leave, arises—within permissible resources," the court held. Previous judgments of the Supreme Court and other High Courts, which have affirmed that contractual employees are entitled to maternity leave under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, were also referred to by the Bench. Rejecting the state government's contention that only regular women civil servants qualify for maternity leave, the court observed: "Women employees for the purpose of availing such benefit do constitute one homogenous class and their artificial bifurcation founded on status of appointment falls foul of Article 14 of the Constitution."
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Orissa HC: Woman contractual employee cannot be denied maternity leave, benefits
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has ruled that a woman contractual employee cannot be denied maternity leave and its associated benefits, emphasising that denying such benefits based on the nature of employment is 'abhorrent to the notions of humanity and womanhood.' The court was hearing a case concerning Anindita Mishra, who was recruited on a contractual basis by the state government in May 2014. (Unsplash/ Representative photo) The court was hearing a case concerning Anindita Mishra, who was recruited on a contractual basis by the state government in May 2014. She had applied for six months of maternity leave after giving birth to a baby girl in August 2016. Despite submitting the necessary medical certificates, the state government rejected her request, stating that maternity benefits were not applicable to contractual employees. A division bench comprising Justices Dixit Krishna Shripad and Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo observed, 'Because of various reasons, including poverty & illiteracy, women come out of their home and gain entry to the employment, be it public, private, contractual or otherwise, as a source of livelihood. State cannot provide public employment to everyone. It could have been ideal, if it could provide. Naturally, employment in the private sector looms large. Our Smrutikaaraas chanted 'yatr naaryaastu pujyante ramante tatr devatah', literally meaning that Gods rejoice where women are honoured. Such ideal things should animate the purposive interpretation of state policy concerning the welfare of women.' A single-judge bench had ruled in her favour in 2022, holding that she was unjustly denied the benefit and directing the state government to grant her maternity leave. However, the state government filed an appeal before a larger bench. Upholding the earlier order, the division bench of the Orissa High Court affirmed that the appellant authorities are obligated to grant maternity leave to the respondent. 'A welfare state cannot be heard to say that a policy of the kind has to be kept away regardless of its socio-welfare object to serve all classes of persons employed in the State, whatever be the nature of such engagement,' the court said. The HC cited provisions under Article 10(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which focuses on special protection and assistance that should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth. 'The idea of maternity leave is structured on 'zero separation' between lactating mother and breast feeding baby... A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years. Similarly, a baby has a fundamental right to be breastfed and brought about in a reasonably good condition,' the bench said.
