New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on a writ petition challenging Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (amended in 2017), which grants maternity benefits only to adoptive mothers who adopt a child below the age of three months. A bench comprising Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan heard arguments questioning the rationale behind limiting maternity benefits based on the child's age. The petitioner's counsel argued that the adoption framework is governed by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which defines a child as anyone under 18 years. Highlighting the discriminatory nature of Section 5(4), the counsel stated that adoptive mothers of children ab...