Justice S K Panigrahi, presiding over a single judge bench, issued this ruling on June 25 while considering a petition filed in 2020 by Supriya Jena, an officer with the Odisha Finance Service (OFS).
Orissa: The Orissa High Court has granted female employees who become mothers through surrogacy equal rights to maternity leave and other benefits, aligning them with those provided to natural and adoptive mothers.
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Justice S K Panigrahi, presiding over a single judge bench, issued this ruling on June 25 while considering a petition filed in 2020 by Supriya Jena, an officer with the Odisha Finance Service (OFS).
Jena, who became a mother through surrogacy, was initially denied 180 days of maternity leave by her higher authority within the Odisha Government. Consequently, she filed a case against the government in the high court.
The court noted that while female government servants are granted 180 days of leave upon adopting a child up to one year old, mirroring maternity leave for natural mothers to care for their adopted child, there was no similar provision for mothers of children born through surrogacy.
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The court emphasized that denying maternity leave to a mother who has a child through surrogacy, using the intended parents’ genetic material, while granting it to adoptive mothers, would be unjust. It ruled in favor of granting maternity leave to such employees to ensure equality among all new mothers, regardless of how they become parents.
“The court noted the absence of maternity leave provisions specifically for raising a child born through surrogacy. It emphasized that if maternity leave can be granted to adoptive mothers, it would be unjustifiable to deny the same to mothers who have a child through surrogacy, where an embryo created using the intended parents’ eggs or sperm is implanted in a surrogate mother’s womb.”
This decision aims to provide these mothers with essential time to establish a nurturing environment for their child, promoting the well-being of both mother and child. The court directed the state government to implement this by sanctioning 180 days of maternity leave to the petitioner within three months and to amend relevant rules to treat children born through surrogacy similarly to those born naturally, ensuring the commissioning mother receives all applicable benefits.
“The judgment further directs the state department concerned to include this aspect in the relevant provisions of the rules. This inclusion aims to ensure that a child born through surrogacy is treated similarly to a naturally born child, entitling the commissioning mother to all benefits provided accordingly.”
