TV
In a landmark judgment, the Orissa High Court has ruled that maternity benefits must be extended to female employees irrespective of whether they are employed on a permanent, temporary, or contractual basis.
The decision was delivered while upholding an earlier single-judge order in favour of Anindita Mishra, a contractual employee with the State Health and Family Welfare Department.
Court Defends Equality Beyond Employment Status
The division bench comprising Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad and Justice Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo strongly rebuked the state’s stance that contractual employees were not entitled to maternity leave.
“Denying maternity benefits on the basis of the nature of employment is abhorrent to the notions of humanity and womanhood,” the bench observed during a hearing last week. It further ruled that “women employees, for the purpose of availing such benefits, constitute one homogenous class.”
The judges also stressed that discrimination based on employment type violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
Dismissing the government’s appeal at the admission stage, the court declared that it lacked merit and directed the state to comply with the order within eight weeks.
From Denial to Recognition: A Long Legal Battle
Anindita Mishra was appointed as a contractual worker in May 2014. After giving birth to a daughter in August 2016, she applied for six months of maternity leave with supporting medical documentation, following the finance department norms.
However, on June 7, 2017, the department rejected her request outright, citing her contractual status as the reason.
Challenging the denial, Mishra moved the Orissa High Court, where a single-judge bench ruled in her favour in August 2022. That order directed the government to grant her maternity leave “in accordance with the law.” The government’s subsequent appeal to a division bench was dismissed on June 24, 2025, with the court noting that the original judgment was ‘sound and unassailable’.
Notably, the bench also acknowledged the concept of ‘zero separation’ between mother and infant as a foundational aspect of maternity leave. “A lactating mother has a fundamental right to breastfeed her baby during its formative years,” the court noted.
