CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972 | Maternity Leave For Third Child Can't Be Denied If First Two Children Were Born Before Joining Service: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that if two children of a government servant were born before joining government service and the third child is born after joining service, maternity leave under Rule 43(1) of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 can't be denied.Justice Sandeep Sharma remarked that: “petitioner herein had given birth to two children prior to her induction in service but her prayer to grant her maternity leave, though may be qua third child of her during service, came to be made for first time. If it is so, prayer made on her behalf for grant of maternity leave deserves to be allowed. For reference: Rule 43(1) of CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972 : A female Government servant (including an apprentice) with less than two surviving children may be granted maternity leave by an authority competent to grant leave for a period of (180 days) from the date of its commencement.” The petitioner joined government service in 2019 as a Staff Nurse at Civil Hospital, Paonta Sahib. Prior to this, she had given birth to two children. In March, 2025, she gave birth to another child and thereafter she filed an application for grant of maternity leave. However, her application was denied on the ground that according to Rule 43(1) of CCS (Leave) Rules,1972, maternity leave is only granted to female government servants with less than two surviving children. Aggrieved, she filed a writ petition before the High Court. Examining the scope of Rule 43(1) of CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, the Court noted that in this case the first two children were born before joining of the service and the third child was born after joining the service. Therefore, the Court held that the petitioner was entitled to be granted maternity leave. The High Court further noted that the Supreme Court in K.Umadevi V/s Government of Tamil Nadu & Ors., 2025, observed that very purpose of maternity leave is to ensure that a working lady may overcome the state of motherhood honourably, peaceably and undeterred by the fear of being victimized for forced absence from work during pre and post-natal periods. Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ petition and directed the Senior Medical Officer to Grant Maternity Leave to the petitioner in accordance with Rule 43(1) of the CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972.Case Name: Archana Sharma v/s State of H.P. & Others. Case No.: CWP No. 10589 of 2025Date of Decision: 30.07.2025For the Petitioner: Mr. Karan Kapoor, Advocate. For the Respondents: Mr. Rajan Kahol, Mr. Vishal Panwar and Mr. B.C. Verma, Additional Advocates General, with Mr. Ravi Chauhan, Deputy Advocate General, for State.Click Here To Read/Download Order

CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972 | Maternity Leave For Third Child Can't Be Denied If First Two Children Were Born Before Joining Service: HP High Court

Mehak Aggarwal

Tags