March 18, 2026 : The Supreme Court has struck down a provision that limited maternity leave for adoptive mothers to cases where the child was below three months of age. A Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan held that adoptive mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave regardless of the child’s age at the time of adoption.

The Court observed that maternity benefits cannot be restricted solely on the basis of the child’s age and emphasized that adoptive mothers have the same rights and responsibilities toward their children as biological mothers.

The judgment was delivered in a challenge to Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, 2020. Additionally, the Court directed the Central Government to consider introducing provisions for paternity leave as a component of social security.