Supreme Court Strikes Down Provision Limiting Maternity Leave for Adoptive Mothers

SC strikes down 'discriminatory' law limiting maternity leave to adoption of children under 3 months

PTI, March 17, 2026, New Delhi: Observing that adoption is part of the right to reproductive autonomy, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a law which said a woman would be eligible for maternity leave if she legally adopts a child below the age of three months, holding it is discriminatory.

Ruling that age-based classification under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security 2020 was violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, a bench of Justices J. B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan held that an adoptive mother should be entitled to maternity leave of 12 weeks, irrespective of the age of the adopted child.

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.

"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 bench said.

The apex 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 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 top court's judgment 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.