Srinagar: The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that women who adopt children older than three months cannot be denied maternity leave, striking down a provision that restricted such benefits only to those adopting infants below three months of age.
The court declared the restriction under the Social Security Code unconstitutional, observing that denying maternity benefits solely because the adopted child is above three months fails to recognise the realities of caregiving and the responsibilities of adoptive parents.
Under the earlier provision, adoptive mothers were entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave only if they adopted a child younger than three months, effectively excluding women who adopted older infants from the benefit.
A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that family cannot be defined solely by biological ties and emphasised that adoption is an equally valid way of forming a family.
The bench observed that the emotional bond and caregiving responsibilities involved in raising an adopted child are no different from those in biological parenthood, regardless of the child’s age at the time of adoption.
Calling maternity protection a fundamental human right, the court held that such benefits must extend to all forms of motherhood, including adoptive motherhood, and cannot be restricted by arbitrary conditions such as the age of the adopted child. (with inputs from agencies)
