The Rajasthan High Court has ruled that maternity leave is not merely a period of absence from work but an important right that enables a mother to develop affection and a lasting emotional bond with her child, directing authorities to grant a government school teacher the full 180 days of maternity leave with salary and service benefits.
The ruling, delivered on 15 October 2026 by Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand at the Jaipur bench, held that the period of maternity leave would not be treated as a break in service. The court said the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right to motherhood and the right of every child to grow and develop fully.
The petitioner, a female teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Government English Medium School in Pur, Kotputli-Behror block, joined the school on 6 October 2023. She had been granted maternity leave for only 34 days, from 1 September to 4 October 2023, and gave birth to her child on 27 September 2023. She later requested the full 180 days of maternity leave with effect from 1 September 2023 along with associated salary and service benefits, which was declined by the authorities.
Referring to Rule 103 of the Rajasthan Service Rules, the High Court noted that eligible female government employees with fewer than two living children are entitled to maternity leave of up to 180 days. It observed that maternity leave serves a broader social purpose beyond addressing a mother’s medical needs and enables the development of affection, attachment and emotional bonding between mother and child.
“Both maternity and early childhood require special care and attention, and the purpose of such leave extends beyond addressing the mother’s medical needs,” the Rajasthan High Court observed in its order.
The court directed the respondent authorities to release all outstanding payments, grant the full 180-day maternity leave period, and treat it as regular service for the purposes of seniority and consequential benefits. State counsel had argued that the teacher applied for child care leave rather than maternity leave after joining her new posting in Tijara and that she held no legal claim to retroactive maternity leave.
The ruling adds to a growing body of Rajasthan High Court jurisprudence that treats maternity benefits as a fundamental right under Article 21, with earlier judgments extending similar protection to employees of RSRTC, unrecognised sectors and surrogate mothers.
