The Supreme Court struck down a law that allowed maternity leave only to mothers who legally adopted a child under the age of three months, calling it “unconstitutional” and “violating the right to equality”. The court also ruled that adoption is part of the right to reproductive autonomy.
The court also ruled that the adoptive mother should be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave regardless of the age of the adopted child.
Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed that the subject matter of maternity benefits is inherently connected with motherhood, ANI reported.
“A woman who legally adopts a child, or a surrogate mother, is entitled to cash maternity assistance for a period of 12 weeks from the day the child is handed over to the adoptive mother, or to the sponsor,” the court said, Livelaw said.
In this context, adoptive mothers of children older than three months are similarly situated to adoptive mothers of younger infants, as both require time to bond, nurture and adjust. Denying benefits based solely on a child’s age creates an artificial and unreasonable classification, it reasoned.
The court further noted that the provision does not take into account the significant emotional, psychological and practical changes that accompany adoption, regardless of the child’s age.
“The provision of Section 60, Paragraph 4 of the 2020 Code, to the extent that it sets the age limit for the adopter of a child to receive cash maternity assistance of three months, is in conflict with Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution,” said the Supreme Court panel.
“The distinction made in subsection 4 of section 60 has no rational connection with the subject of the 2020 code. The subject of maternity cash assistance is not connected with the process of childbirth, but with the process of motherhood. The purpose of maternity protection does not differ with the way in which the child is brought into the life of the mother, who is the entitled person. They are similarly situated as women who adopt a child under 3 months,” the court said according to the Bar&Bench.
The court also ordered the central government to introduce a provision recognizing paternity leave as a social security benefit.
The decision came during the hearing of the motion, which was filed in 2021. It originally challenged Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefits Act 1961, as amended by the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act 2017 – which provides 12 weeks of maternity leave to a mother whose adopted child is under three months old.
In November 2024, the court also issued a summons to the government in response to the adoptive mother’s application.
