Denying childcare leave to mother of disabled child violates state’s constitutional duty: Supreme Court
Post exhausting provided sanctioned leaves, a geography professor was denied more leaves to take care of her disabled son.
An assistance professor in the department of geography in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh was the petitioner in a case where she had been denied leave to take care of her disabled son, suffering from certain genetic disorders since birth, as she had exhausted all her sanctioned leaves. She plead for the grant of Child Care Leave (CCL) to the Supreme Court bench comprising of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala. The court considered the issue as ‘serious’ and after hearing the plea, said the equal participation of women in the workforce is a matter of Constitutional requirement and not a matter of privilege. It ordered the Centre to be made party to the case and sought the assistance of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati in adjudicating it.
The court maintained that denying Child Care Leave to a mother of a disabled child would violate the constitutional duty of the state ensure equal participation of women in the workforce.
“We are of the view that the petition raises a serious matter of concern. The petitioner has raised the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. The commissioner has indicated on affidavit that no policy of CCL has been formulated. Participation of women in the workforce is not a matter of privilege but a constitutional requirement and the State as a model employer cannot be oblivious of this,” the Supreme Court bench ruled.
The court directed the state government to revise its policy on CCL in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. A resolution on the issue of CCL must be presented by July 31 and the decision must be made by including the secretaries of women and child development and the social welfare department of the state, besides the chief secretary. “Ultimately, the plea does entrench on areas of policy and areas of State policy must be synchronous with constitutional safeguards. We direct the State of Himachal Pradesh to reconsider CCL to mothers consistent with the RPWD Act for mothers who are bringing up mothers of children with special needs,” the Chief Justice of India said.
Since issuing a notice to the state government and the director of higher education on the plea on October 29, 2021, Supreme Court had also sought the commissioner’s response under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
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