LI Network
Published on: 26 July 2023 at 17:20 IST
The Orissa High Court recently underscored the significance of maternity leave as a fundamental human right, stating that its denial would constitute an assault on the dignity of women employees.
In the case of Swornalata Dash v. State of Odisha and ors, Justice Sashikanta Mishra ruled that maternity leave is not comparable or interchangeable with any other leave and cannot be denied on technical grounds.
The Court firmly asserted that maternity leave is an inherent right for every woman employee and cannot be subject to denial based on technicalities. Denying such a basic human right to a woman employee would offend her fundamental right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, interpreted to encompass life with dignity, the Court added.
The High Court also drew on the Supreme Court’s observations in Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Female Workers (Muster Roll) and another, where the apex court stressed the importance of honoring and treating women with dignity at their workplace to earn their livelihood.
Although the observations in the mentioned case were in the context of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Orissa High Court opined that they are equally applicable to women employees not covered by the Act.
The case before the Court involved a writ petition filed by a teacher working in an aided girls’ high school in Keonjhar district. The teacher had applied for maternity leave in 2013, rejoined work after childbirth, and submitted her joining report and fitness certificate. However, the District Education Officer at Keonjhar refused to sanction the maternity leave, citing the absence of applicable leave rules for employees of the school.
In response to the teacher’s writ petition, the District Education Officer argued that the Grant-In-Aid Orders of 1994 and 2013, as well as the Odisha Education Recruitment and Conditions of Service and Staff of Aided Educational Institutions Rules, 1974, were silent on the issue of maternity leave for block grant high school employees. The officer contended that the provisions of the Odisha Service Code relating to maternity leave were only applicable to regular government servants, not to employees of block grant high schools.
However, Justice Mishra rejected these technical arguments and ordered the District Education Officer to sanction the teacher’s maternity leave within four weeks. The Court deemed the refusal to grant maternity leave to the petitioner as contrary to the law and unsustainable.
Advocate SS Pratap represented the teacher, while Additional Government Advocate S Pattnaik appeared for the State authorities in the case.