CUTTACK: In a landmark ruling that reaffirms the rights of women employees irrespective of their employment status, the Orissa High Court has upheld the grant of maternity leave to a contractual worker and dismissed the state government’s appeal challenging the same.
Anindita Mishra, engaged as a young professional under the Health and Family Welfare department since May 20, 2014, had been serving on a contractual basis with regular extensions based on her performance.
In August 2016, following the birth of her daughter, she applied for maternity leave from August 17, 2016 to February 12, 2017. However, her application was summarily rejected by the department on June 7, 2017, citing that she was not entitled to such benefits due to her contractual status. Challenging the decision, Mishra filed a petition in the high court the same year.
After years of legal battle, a single judge of the high court quashed the department’s rejection order on August 30, 2022, and directed the government to extend maternity leave benefits to her as per the law. The court also instructed that the order be implemented within three months.
However, the state government filed a writ appeal against the single judge’s verdict. The division bench comprising Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad and Justice MS Sahoo dismissed the appeal on June 24, 2025, terming it “devoid of merit” and upheld the earlier ruling.
“The single judge has rightly granted relief to the poor employee and that viewed from any angle the same cannot be faltered,” the bench remarked. It further directed the government to implement the order and file a compliance report within eight weeks.
Delivering a scathing critique of the government’s stance, the court observed, “The contention that the benefit of maternity leave applies only to civil servants cannot be countenanced. 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.”
In a powerful observation, the bench further stated, “Denying maternity benefit on the basis of nature of employment is abhorrent to the notions of humanity and womanhood.”