• Source:IANS
Add as a preferred

The Delhi High Court has observed that pregnant women who are employed are entitled to maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act of 2017 and it can't be denied them based on the nature of their employment.

Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said that the Act does not imply that working expectant women should be denied relief because of their line of work. Maternity benefits are an integral element of a woman's identity when she decides to start a family and are not solely derived from legal obligations or employment contracts.

ALSO READ: Sexual Intercourse With Minor Wife Can Not Be Termed As Rape: Delhi HC Upholds Acquittal Of Man

The court emphasised that the freedom to have children is a constitutional right and that restricting this right without following the correct legal procedures is in violation of both the Constitution and the social justice principles.

The judge said that it is damaging to society's advancement for a woman to be forced to choose between her career and her family life. Justice Singh noted that the Act frames maternity benefits as a "Benefit", but these should instead be viewed as a rightful entitlement for female employees in such circumstances, calling for a positive change in perspective and a more adaptive approach to providing maternity benefits.

This observation came in response to a case of a pregnant woman employed under contract with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA). Despite extending maternity benefits to permanent employees, DSLSA denied them to contractual staff. Justice Singh criticised this discrepancy, especially considering the petitioner's role in protecting the interests of children within the justice system.

The court directed DSLSA to provide all medical, financial, and other relevant benefits to the petitioner in accordance with the Maternity Benefit Act.

Recognising the struggles women have faced in achieving equal treatment, the court highlighted that equal treatment doesn't mean identical treatment. To push a woman, undergoing such a degree of dynamic changes while she is in the process of childbirth, to work at par with those who are not, at the same extent of labour, physical and/or mental, tantamount to grave injustice and is in no manner reasonable.

This is certainly not the definition of equity and equality of opportunities that the framers of the Constitution had in their mind, Justice Singh observed.

(With Inputs From IANS)