Can A Woman Be Denied to Take Child Care Leave?
Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that denying mothers leave for child care would be a violation of the constitutional need to guarantee women’s equal participation in the economy.
Hearing a plea from an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh, a Bench consisting of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala notes that the petitioner had used up all her leave due to her son’s genetic disorder, which has required multiple surgeries since birth.
The Bench issued a comprehensive order in which it expressed its belief that the petition presents a grave concern.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act has been brought up by the petitioner. In the affidavit, the commissioner stated that no Child Care Leave (CCL) policy had been developed.
Being a model employer, the state cannot ignore the fact that women’s participation in the workforce is a constitutional duty rather than a matter of privilege.
The CCL upholds a crucial constitutional goal of ensuring that women have equal access to the workforce. This might force a mother to quit her job, and it is especially true for mothers with special needs children.
In the end, the order directed the State of Himachal Pradesh to reevaluate CCL for mothers, consistent with the RPWD Act for mothers who are raising children with special requirements, acknowledging that the plea does entrench in policy areas and that state policy areas must be synchronous with constitutional safeguards.
We give the state chief secretary instructions to form a committee made up of the State Commissioner under the RPWD Act, the secretaries of women and child development, the department of social welfare, and one secretary from the central government’s department of social welfare.
The judgement scheduled the hearing for the first week of August and noted that the committee would work with ASG Aishwarya Bhati to support the court.
The Supreme Court also sent a notice on the matter to the Centre.
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