Allahabad High Court Says Maternity Leave Can Be Granted for Third Child in Certain Cases

The Allahabad High Court has held that maternity leave may also be available in relation to a third child, depending on the applicable statutory framework and the circumstances of the case, while setting aside orders that had rejected such leave solely on the ground that the employee already had two surviving children.

 

The ruling came in a petition filed by Geeta Chaudhary, who had challenged two orders dated July 16 and July 25, 2026, by which her application for maternity leave for a third child had been rejected by the District Basic Education Officer, Hapur, and other authorities.

 

The petitioner’s counsel argued that after the amendment to Section 5(3) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 through the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, a woman employee having two or more surviving children cannot be completely denied maternity benefit. In such cases, the period of maternity benefit is reduced from 26 weeks to 12 weeks.

 

The High Court also considered earlier Supreme Court decisions, including Anupama Yadav v. State of Uttar Pradesh and K. Umadevi v. Government of Tamil Nadu, while examining the extent of maternity protection available to women employees beyond the second surviving child.

 

The Court observed that there is no absolute statutory prohibition on maternity benefit merely because a woman has more than two surviving children. It noted that the legal position requires authorities to distinguish between complete denial of maternity leave and reduction in the duration of the benefit.

 

Accordingly, the High Court quashed the impugned orders and remanded the matter to the competent authority for fresh consideration. The authority was directed to reconsider the petitioner’s claim in accordance with the amended law and the principles laid down by the Supreme Court, and to pass a fresh order within the prescribed period.

 

The ruling is significant for women employees whose maternity leave applications are rejected only on the basis of the number of surviving children. It underlines that such applications must be examined in the light of the governing maternity benefit law rather than being rejected through a blanket policy.