MADURAI: Observing that the state should give a purposive interpretation to maternity leave rules, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently directed the government to provide maternity leave to a government staff nurse from Madurai, after her application was rejected citing that it was her third pregnancy.
Justice R Vijayakumar passed the order on a petition filed by the nurse challenging the rejection order and seeking direction to grant her one year maternity leave from August 2024 to August 2025.
According to the order, the petitioner was initially appointed as a staff nurse on contract basis in 2008 and her service was later regularised in 2018 with effect from 2014. While she was working on a contract basis, she had two female children through her first marriage. She had not availed maternity leave for the two deliveries since she was a contract staff.
Following a divorce, she remarried and conceived her third child for which she applied for maternity leave from August 24, 2024 to August 23, 2025. But her application was rejected by pointing out that it was her third child. She was instructed to apply for any other type of leave but even then her request was not accepted and she was referred to the medical board, which declared that she was fit to resume duty. Aggrieved by this, she moved the court.
The government advocate pointed out that as per Rule 101 (a) of Fundamental Rules, the maternity leave can be granted only to a woman government servant with less than two surviving children. In the present case, the petitioner already has two surviving children through her first marriage and therefore is not entitled to 12 months maternity leave under service regulation, he added.
The judge observed that legislative intent of aforesaid rules was to discourage women from having more children by considering the population control policy and the burden on the state exchequer in extending maternity leave for many children, among others. Therefore, a purposive in interpretation has to be given to achieve the object of the above said rules, he added.
Since the petitioner is seeking maternity leave for the first time, the state exchequer is not put to any strain. The Rule has to be interpreted in such a manner that a woman government employee would be entitled to seek maternity leave only twice during her service period, the judge observed and directed to confer maternity leave in three months.
Plea for laws to safeguard rights of activists
Madurai: In the wake of social activist K Jagbar Ali’s killing for allegedly opposing illegal mining, Madurai based human rights group Manitha Urimai Kappalar Kootamaipu sought separate laws to safeguard human rights activists. According to a press release, the group said that Ali, an activist from Vengalur of Thirumayam taluk in Pudukkottai district, was known for his strong stance against illegal mining in his district.
Despite his political connections, he was active against illegal sand and quarry mining in Thirumayam. After Ali exposed an illegal mining operation, the miners attempted to lure him by offering money, but he refused. As a result, he was killed on January 17 after being hit by a lorry. We seek a SIT probe and also the creation of separate laws to safeguard human rights activists, the group stated in the release.