Shimla, Aug. 5 -- In a landmark decision safeguarding the rights of working mothers, the Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that a woman government employee is entitled to maternity leave for her third child, provided her first two children were born before she joined government service.
The Court passed this verdict in favour of Archana Sharma, a Staff Nurse at Civil Hospital, Paonta Sahib, who was denied 180 days of maternity leave under Rule 43(1) of the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972. The hospital authorities had rejected her request on the ground that she already had two surviving children.
However, Justice Sandeep Sharma clarified that the restriction of maternity leave for only those with less than two surviving children...