New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on a writ petition challenging Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (amended in 2017), which grants maternity benefits only to adoptive mothers who adopt a child below the age of three months.
A bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan heard arguments questioning the rationale behind limiting maternity benefits based on the child's age.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that the adoption framework is governed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which defines a child as anyone under 18 years.
Highlighting the discriminatory nature of Section 5(4), the counsel stated that adoptive mothers of children above three months are unfairly denied the 12-week maternity benefit provided by the law.
Justice Pardiwala raised a critical question, asking, "Where do we draw the line? It says below the age of three months. Take a case where a couple adopts a child who is 3 years, 3 months, and 15 days old. How do you expect that woman to care for the adopted child without maternity benefits? We don’t see any rationale in this restriction."
The bench also scrutinized whether the provision had any reasonable nexus with the law’s objective.
The Union's counsel argued that biological mothers are entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave to recover post-delivery, whereas adoptive mothers are granted 12 weeks as recovery is not a factor.
However, the Court clarified that the issue was not about the duration of maternity leave but the restriction based on the child’s age.
The Court emphasized the constitutional principle of reasonableness under Article 14 and questioned whether curtailing maternity benefits for adoptive mothers based on the child's age was justified.
The Court reserved its judgement and the significant issue, which affects adoptive mothers' rights, is now awaited.
