In a legal victory, the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow, under the stewardship of Justice Manish Mathur, delivered a landmark judgment in the case of Smt. Sonali Sharma versus the State of Uttar Pradesh.
The court, in its order dated November 28, 2023, has not only quashed the order rejecting Sharma’s application for a second maternity leave but has also issued a writ of Mandamus directing the sanctioning of maternity leave to the petitioner.
Smt. Sonali Sharma had filed a writ petition through Advocate Alok Mishra challenging the order dated October 17, 2023, which denied her application for a second maternity leave. The petitioner sought the court’s intervention to grant maternity leave with full salary from August 14, 2023, to February 9, 2024.
The crux of the matter revolved around the interpretation of Regulation 101 read with Regulation 153(1) of Financial Handbook Volume II part 2 to 4. The petitioner contended that relevant judgments from Coordinate Benches of the Court supported her case. Citing the judgments in the cases of Anupam Yadav & Ors, Anshu Rani, and Satakshi Mishra, the petitioner’s counsel, Alok Mishra, argued that the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 takes precedence over the Financial Handbook.
Justice Manish Mathur, in his judgment, emphasized the primacy of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 over executive instructions, stating, “The provisions of Financial Handbook are merely executive instructions and would be subsidiary to the Act of the Parliament and, in case of any inconsistency, the statutory enactment framed by the Parliament would prevail.”
Referring specifically to the rejection of the petitioner’s second maternity leave, the court held, “Once the 1961 Act does not contain any such stipulation, the Basic Education Officer manifestly erred in rejecting the leave to the petitioner.”
Considering the precedents set by the cited judgments, the court quashed the impugned order dated October 17, 2023. A writ of Certiorari was issued, and a writ of Mandamus commanded the Director, Dibyangjan Sashaktikaran Nideshalaya U.P. Lucknow, to sanction maternity leave to the petitioner from August 14, 2023, to February 9, 2024, along with all service benefits.
In a resounding victory for maternity rights, the court declared, “There is no bar for an employee seeking Second Maternity benefit within a period of two years from the grant of First Maternity benefit.”
The petition succeeded and was allowed at the admission stage, with each party bearing its own costs.
Case Name: Smt. Sonali Sharma Vs State Of U.P
Case No.: WRIT – A No. – 9110 of 2023
Bench: Justice Manish Mathur
Order dated: 28.11.2023
Page Source : Law Trend
