News Citation : 2025 LN (HC) 1
Bilaspur, May 05, 2025 : The High Court of Chhattisgarh has delivered a significant ruling reinforcing the rights of working women, holding that female employees of the Indian Institute of Management Raipur are entitled to Child Adoption Leave under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, where the institute’s own policies are silent on the issue.
The judgment came in a writ petition filed by Lata Goyal, an Assistant Administrative Officer at IIM Raipur, who had challenged the institute’s decision denying her 180 days of Child Adoption Leave after she adopted a two-day-old infant in November 2023. While the institute granted her limited commuted leave and partial benefits under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, it refused to extend the full adoption leave on the ground that its HR policy did not expressly provide for it.
Justice Bibhu Datta Guru, delivering the verdict, rejected this reasoning. The Court noted that IIM Raipur’s own HR policy clearly states that in matters not specifically covered, the institute shall be guided by rules and norms prescribed by the Government of India from time to time. Since the policy did not contain any provision on Child Adoption Leave, the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 were held to apply.
The Court emphasised that Rule 43-B of the CCS (Leave) Rules provides for 180 days of paid Child Adoption Leave to a female employee with fewer than two surviving children who adopts a child below the age of one year. Denying such leave, the Court observed, goes beyond a service dispute and strikes at the heart of constitutional guarantees.
In strong language, the judgment underlined that women’s participation in the workforce is not a privilege but a constitutional entitlement protected under Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Constitution. Child adoption and child care leave, the Court said, are not mere benefits but enforceable rights that support motherhood, dignity, and a woman’s right to life.
The Court also rejected the argument that IIM Raipur’s status as an autonomous institution insulated it from judicial scrutiny. It held that fundamental rights under Articles 19 and 21 can be enforced even against bodies that are not strictly “State” under Article 12, particularly where denial of such rights would force women out of the workforce.
Highlighting the emotional and developmental needs of adopted children, the judgment made it clear that adoptive mothers stand on the same footing as biological mothers. There can be no discrimination in maternity-related benefits based on the mode of motherhood, whether biological, adoptive, or otherwise.
Accordingly, the High Court quashed the impugned communications denying leave and held that the petitioner was entitled to the full 180 days of Child Adoption Leave under the CCS Rules. Since she had already been granted 84 days of leave under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, the institute was directed to verify and adjust the same while extending the remaining benefits. The writ petition was allowed to this extent, with no order as to costs.
Case Reference : WPS No. 6831 of 2024, Lata Goyal vs Union of India and Another; Counsels: for the petitioner, Shri Abhishek Sinha, Senior Advocate, with Ms Khushboo Naresh Dua, Advocate; for respondent No.1 (Union of India), none; and for respondent No.2 (IIM), Shri Kishore Bhaduri, Senior Advocate, with Shri Sabyasachi Bhaduri and Shri Harsh Dave, Advocates.