Allahabad High Court rejects woman’s plea seeking maternity leave for fourth child

The Allahabad High Court recently dismissed a plea filed by a woman government employee seeking six months' maternity leave for her fourth child [Sashi Kumari v. State of UP and Others].Justice Manju Rani Chauhan passed the order on August 7 in a petition challenging a June 19 order by the government authorities who had rejected her claim for maternity leave for her fourth child.The petitioner argued that she had not availed maternity leave when her first three children were born and was therefore, entitled to the benefit for the fourth child since she was seeking maternity leave for the first time.The State opposed the plea, relying on the provisions of the Financial Handbook. It submitted that she was not entitled to maternity leave for her fourth child..The provision states that maternity leave is available to permanent or temporary women government employees for two occasions. It further provides that where a woman government employee has two or more living children, maternity leave cannot be granted.The Court, therefore, found no reason to interfere with the decision and rejected the petitioner's claim."In view of the above, no interference is required by this Court," the Court said..Meanwhile, the Court flagged that only typed copies of documents had been annexed with the petition instead of photocopies of the original documents. The Court said it was difficult to decide issues on the basis of typed copies as they contain typing errors that needed to be verified against the original documents.Accordingly, the Court directed the reporting section to raise objections in such cases and ensure that writ petitions are filed with proper photocopies of the documents annexed to them..Advocate Anchal Ojha represented the petitioner.Additional Chief Standing Counsel Anuradha Sundaram appeared for the StateAdvocate Nagendra Kumar Pandey appeared for other respondents.[Read Order]