Justice Manish Mathur of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow ruled in favour of Sonali Sharma in a case against the State of Uttar Pradesh. On 28 November 2023, the Court not only overturned the decision denying Sharma’s request for a second maternity leave but also issued a Mandamus order instructing that the maternity leave be approved
Sonali Sharma, with the help of Advocate Alok Mishra, filed a petition challenging the denial of her second maternity leave on 17 October, 2023. She requested the court grant maternity leave with full salary from 14 August, 2023, to 9 February, 2024.
The central issue revolved around interpreting regulations in Financial Handbook Volume II Parts 2–4, particularly Regulation 101 and Regulation 153(1). The petitioner argued that past court decisions, such as Anupam Yadav & Ors., Anshu Rani, and Satakshi Mishra, supported her perspective. Alok Mishra, the petitioner’s counsel, asserted that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, should be given more weight than the Financial Handbook.
In his ruling, Justice Manish Mathur emphasised that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, carries more significance than the executive instructions in the Financial Handbook. He explained that the provisions of the Financial Handbook are just executive instructions and come after the Act of Parliament. If there’s any conflict, the law passed by Parliament takes precedence.
