Maternity leaves basic human right: Orissa HC

The Orissa High Court recently highlighted that maternity leave is a basic human right and that its denial would amount to an assault on the dignity of woman employees, reported Bar and Bench on Wednesday.

Justice Sashikanta Mishra held that maternity leave cannot be compared to or equated with any other leave as it is an inherent right for every woman employee. Maternity leave cannot simply be denied on technical grounds, the court said.

“It would be preposterous to hold otherwise as it would militate against the very process designed by nature. If a woman employee is denied this basic human right it would be an assault on her dignity as an individual and thereby offend her fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article-21 of the Constitution, which has been interpreted to mean life with dignity,” the court added.

The court was dealing with a writ petition filed by a teacher working in an aided girls’ high school in Keonjhar district.

The teacher applied for and took maternity leave in 2013. She rejoined for work in December 2013 and the school headmaster accepted her joining report and fitness certificate.

However, the District Education Officer at Keonjhar refused to sanction the maternity leave. On filing an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI Act), the teacher was informed that her maternity leave sanction could not be considered as there was no leave rule applicable for employees of the school.

This prompted the teacher to file a writ petition before the high court for relief.