The Madras High Court on Monday ruled that if a working woman gives birth to a child in the second delivery after having given births to twins in the first, then she is not entitled to maternity benefits as it should be treated as the third child.
While allowing an appeal by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the bench comprising Chief Justice AP Sahi and Justice Subramanium Prasad said as per existing rules, a woman can avail such benefits only for her first two deliveries. Even otherwise it is debatable as to whether the delivery is not a second delivery but a third one, in as much as one after another, and their age and their inter-se elderly status is also determined by virtue of the gap of time between their arrivals, which amount to two deliveries and not one simultaneous act.
The bench set aside the order June 18, 2019 order of a single judge, who extended 180 days of maternity leave and other benefits to a woman member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) under the rules governing the Tamil Nadu government servants.
The issue pertains to an appeal moved by the ministry, which contended that the leave claim is by a member of CISF to whom the maternity rules of Tamil Nadu would not apply.