The Bombay High Court has ruled that women employees cannot be denied maternity benefits merely because they are appointed on a temporary or daily-wage basis. The Court clarified that employment status does not dilute a woman’s right to maternity leave and related financial benefits under the law.
The ruling was delivered in a case involving a woman serving as a temporary assistant professor in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at a government medical college in Kolhapur. She had been engaged on a temporary basis but had worked continuously since September 2018, with her services being extended periodically *through short technical breaks*.
In 2021, when she was in the advanced stage of pregnancy, the employee applied for maternity leave for a period of 131 days. While the leave was acknowledged, the institution treated the entire duration as leave without pay and denied her maternity benefits amounting to over Rs 4.36 lakh. The medical college justified its decision by stating that maternity benefits were not extended to temporary staff whose appointments were renewed through fixed-term arrangements.
The High Court rejected this reasoning, observing that the woman had effectively been working without interruption and that the so-called breaks were purely technical in nature. The court held that such artificial interruptions could not be used as a ground to deny statutory benefits. It found the approach of the authorities to be arbitrary and contrary to the intent of the law.
Referring to the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Court clarified that maternity benefits apply to all women employees who fulfil the statutory requirements under the law, regardless of whether they are permanent, temporary or engaged on daily wages. It emphasised that eligibility is determined by the conditions laid down in the Maternity Benefit Act—such as continuity of service and pregnancy—and not by the nature or label of employment.
Allowing the petition, the Court directed the authorities to release the full maternity benefit amount within four weeks. It also ruled that any delay beyond this period would attract interest at nine per cent per annum until payment is made.
