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3 Mar 2020 3:10pm

No maternity benefit for second pregnancy after twin birth: Madras HC

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CHENNAI:The High Court of Madras ruled that if a working woman gives birth to a child in the second delivery after twins in the first delivery, she is not entitled to maternity benefits as it would be considered as a third child.

"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, inasmuch as ordinarily when twins are born they are delivered 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 amounts to two deliveries and not one simultaneous act,” the first bench of Chief Justice A P Sahi and Subramonium Prasad said in a judgment last week.

The issue pertains to an appeal lodged by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs challenging the order of a single judge extending 180 days of maternity leave and other benefits to a woman member of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) under the Tamil Nadu servants rules. The maternity benefits given under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Regulations will cover her, the ministry said.

When the appeal came up for hearing, the bench said that a second delivery, which in the present case resulted in a third child, could not be interpreted so as to add to the mathematical precision as specified in the rules. If the claimant has more than two children, the admissibility of the benefits would be limited.

This fact, therefore, changes the entire nature of the relief which is sought by the woman petitioner, and has been overlooked by the single judge,” the court added.

The court has set aside the single judge's impugned judgment and allowed the writ petition. If in exceptional circumstances, the appellants had the power to grant any relaxation, it may be worth considering, the court said, as it entails financial consequences that could result in the deprivation of benefits for the newborn child, who is not concerned either with framing rules or the choice of parents to have a child.


Tagged: Madras High Court maternity benefit second pregnancy Chief Justice A P Sahi Subramonium Prasad Union Ministry Central Civil Services
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