Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Contractual women eligible for maternity benefits: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has held that Contractual women are eligible for maternity benefits to adjudicate upon the issue.

A Delhi High Court single judge bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, in its July 26 order, said, “Maternity benefits do not merely arise out of the statutory right or contractual relationship between an employer and employee but are a fundamental and integral part of the identity and dignity of a woman who chooses to start a family and bear a child.”

“The liberty to carry a child is a fundamental right that the Constitution of the Country grants its citizens under Article 21”, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh’s order said.

“Further, the choice not to carry a child is an extension of this fundamental right. However, to stand in the way of the exercise of this right by a woman, without procedure or intervention of law, is not only violative of the fundamental rights granted by the Constitution of India but also against the basic tenets of social justice”, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh order added.

Accordingly, considering the entirety of the matter and the law laid down, the instant petition is allowed with the following directions:

I. The respondent shall release all medical, monetary, and other benefits that accrued in favour of the petitioner on account of her pregnancy, as per the terms of the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017.

II. Since, no extreme medical or other exigencies have been presented by the petitioner, ante-natal or post-natal, she shall be entitled to the benefits for the time period as provided under the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017 of 26 weeks.

III. The needful shall be done by the respondent within a period of three months from the date of receipt of this order.

The official order was shared by Live Law which can be read by a click here.

Editorial

Deloitte, PWC, EY, KPMG to Hire 1 Lakh People in India in FY25

According to estimates from top company officials and industry...

Higher EPS Pension Application Stuck: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fix

Nearly 97,640 Provident Fund (PF) members and pensioners under...

Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG Outpace Global Growth for India Divisions

The Indian divisions of Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG...

EPS-95 Higher Pension Update: Less Than 1% Cases Settled So Far

Supreme Court Ruling and EPFO’s Higher Pension Rollout The Employees’...

Strong Job Growth and Salary Increases Expected in IT Sector

India's IT sector is on track for significant growth,...

Must Read

TCS organized Research Webinar in collaboration with ACM India

TCS in collaboration with ACM India organized a Research...

JPMorgan plans to hire about 2,000 engineers

An American multinational investment bank and financial services company, JPMorgan...

HCL and Intel launch Center of Excellence for Digital Workplace Services

Strengthening their global collaboration, HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading...

Employment in India Jumps 36% Under NDA: Mansukh Mandaviya

India's employment sector has witnessed a transformation under National...

New Reforms will benefit the workers immensely: Gangwar

New Reforms will benefit the workers immensely: Shri Santosh...

Tata Projects offers Women Engineering Internship Program, try till June 4

One of the fastest-growing and most admired infrastructure companies...

Tata Steel sacks 35 employees for breach of ethical code

An Indian multinational steel-making company, Tata Steel has sacked...

TATA AIG Appoints Amit Ganorkar as Managing Director and CEO

TATA AIG General Insurance Company, a leading general insurance...

Related Articles

Sheenu Pradhan
Sheenu Pradhanhttps://sightsinplus.com/
Sheenu Pradhan, Editor Content, SightsIn Plus. She has over 8 years of experience in human resources. Prior to this, she has been associated with Wictor Chemicals India, Wipro, and Shakti Plas Industry.