Court rules that a government employee who delivered twins during her first pregnancy is entitled to maternity leave for her second pregnancy.
The Telangana High Court, in a significant judgment, has ruled in favor of Smt. Jadi Swarupa Rani, a government employee who was denied maternity leave for her second pregnancy on the grounds that she already has two surviving children, born as twins during her first pregnancy. The court declared that the birth of twins should be considered a single biological event for the purpose of maternity leave eligibility.
Justice K. Sarath presided over the case, which involved the petitioner, a Junior Lecturer in the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TGSWREIS), who was initially granted maternity leave for her first delivery of twins in 2023. However, when she applied for maternity leave for her second pregnancy, her application was rejected based on the "two-child norm" stipulated in Rule 101(a) of the Telangana Fundamental Rules, which limits maternity leave to women with less than two surviving children.
The court examined the case in light of Article 21 and Article 42 of the Indian Constitution, which recognize the right to reproduction and child-rearing as aspects of privacy and dignity, and mandate the state to ensure humane working conditions and maternity relief. The court also took into account precedents from the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court that emphasized the need for maternity leave provisions to support women's participation in the workforce and treat childbirth as a natural incident of life.
In its decision, the court cited the Supreme Court judgment in Deepika Singh v. Central Administrative Tribunal, which called for a purposive interpretation of maternity leave rules to align with social justice and constitutional guarantees. The court found that denying maternity leave based on a literal interpretation of the "two-child norm" would contravene these principles.
The court directed the respondents to grant the petitioner maternity leave for her second delivery from April 14, 2026, to October 11, 2026, with full pay and allowances. The judgment reinforces the legal precedent that childbirth resulting in twins should be treated as a single event, thus entitling women to maternity leave for subsequent pregnancies without penalization for multiple births at one time.
Bottom line:-
A government employee who delivered twins during her first pregnancy is entitled to maternity leave for her second pregnancy, as the twins from the first delivery should be treated as a single biological event for the purpose of maternity leave eligibility.
Statutory provision(s): Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, Article 42 of the Indian Constitution, Rule 101(a) of the Telangana Fundamental Rules, Rule 43 of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.
Smt. Jadi Swarupa Rani v. State of Telangana, (Telangana) : Law Finder Doc id # 2946745
