SC Strikes Down Adoption Leave Age Limit, Expands Maternity Benefits
The apex court also asked the Centre to come out with a provision recognising paternity leave as a social security benefit.
The protection of maternity benefit cannot be confined to keeping in mind the age of the child, the court said, adding that an adoptive mother would have the same rights and obligations towards the child as the natural mother.
A two-judge bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan said: “We have reached the conclusion that Section 60(4) of the 2020 Code, insofar it puts an age limit of three months on the age of the adoptive child, for the adoptive mothers to avail maternity benefit under the 2020 Code, is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution respectively."
The top court also asked the Centre to come out with a provision recognising paternity leave as a social security benefit.
"The distinction drawn by sub-section (4) of Section 60 does not have a rational nexus with the object of the 2020 Code. The object of maternity benefit is not associated with the process of childbirth but with the process of motherhood.
The 100-page verdict came on a plea filed by advocate Hamsaanandini Nanduri, an adoptive mother of two children, challenging Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code that allows 12 weeks of maternity leave only if an adoptive mother adopts a child below three months of age.
"The purpose of maternity protection does not vary with the manner in which the child is brought into the life of the beneficiary mother. Insofar as the roles, responsibilities, and caregiving obligations are concerned, women who adopt a child aged three months or above are similarly situated to women who adopt a child below the age of three months," the bench said.
The top court said the process of adjustment and integration within the adoptive family, both for the parents as well as the child, remains substantially the same irrespective of the age of the child.
"The impugned classification overlooks the significant emotional, psychological, and practical adjustments required of the adoptive parents and the adopted child, more particularly, in cases involving children with disabilities or single adoptive mothers," it said.
The top court said women who adopt a child aged three months or above are similarly situated to women who adopt a child below the age of three months, insofar as their roles, responsibilities, and caregiving obligations are concerned. The process of adoption itself entails significant emotional, psychological, and practical adjustments for both the child and the adoptive mother, it added.
