The Madras High Court has disapproved of a Tamil Nadu government decision to restrict the maternity leave to just 12 weeks for the third pregnancy of women government servants who are otherwise entitled to 365 days of leave for the two pregnancies.
Second Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and N. Senthil Kumar said, there was “absolutely no justification” for the State government to have issued a Government Order (G.O.) on March 13, 2026 restricting the maternity leave for the third pregnancy to just three months.
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“This kind of restriction made by the government by issuing a G.O. under the executive power vested on it under Article 162 of the Constitution and against the dictums laid down by the honourable Supreme Court as well as this court cannot be approved by this court,” the Bench wrote.
Authoring the verdict for the Bench, Justice Kumar also wrote: “Suffering would be the same irrespective of it being a first, second or third pregnancy and the pre-delivery as well as post-delivery care must be taken by the mothers. Therefore, no discrimination could be shown by the government in approving the maternity benefits, especially maternity leave for the third pregnancy to the employees.”
