Kolkata: Observing that denial of child care leave (CCL) without justifiable reason is unacceptable, Calcutta High Court directed the governing body of the Calcutta Girls College to sanction 189 days of such leave to an assistant professor whose applications for the same were rejected multiple times.
The bench of Justice Jay Sengupta also directed the governing body to release the salaries due to the petitioner for such CCL period. “If the nourishing years of the two infants are not the right time to grant CCL to the petitioner, then one wonders whether the Governing Body of the College was trying to save it for a later period when there may possibly be no need for such leave,” the court observed.
As per a memorandum dated January 18, 2016, female employees are entitled to 730 days of CCL during their service until their eldest two children reach 18 years of age. Employees can apply for CCL up to three times a year or for one continuous year.
The petitioner, an assistant professor in the department of Economics at the college since March 5, 2018, filed the writ petition challenging the decision (January 11,2024) of the college’s governing body which rejected her CCL application for 189 days (January 11, 2023 to July 18, 2023). She, however, availed of such leave. She was directed to refund the salary received during this period and was also served a show-cause notice for unauthorised absence.
The petitioner sought to have the decision set aside and requested the sanction of the CCL along with release of her salary dues.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that she conceived in March 2021, faced pregnancy-related complications and availed 180 days maternity leave (November 12, 2021 to May 10, 2022). She gave birth to twin daughters via caesarean section on November 26, 2021. She resumed duties on May 11, 2022 but applied for CCL to care for her infant twins at her Siliguri residence, citing personal circumstances (husband was abroad and aged parents-in-law were unwell). She was also suffering from a medical condition after child birth.
Petitioner had again applied for CCL from July 31, 2023, to October 31, 2023 (sanctioned), and leave without pay from November 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024 (approved). She resumed duties on March 1, 2024.
The court emphasised that the petitioner was well within her 730-day CCL entitlement and the respondents did not claim she had exceeded this limit. The governing body failed to provide valid reasons for denying the 189 days of CCL, especially during the critical early years of the petitioner’s infants. The body’s decision was set aside.