High Court Stresses On Having Paternity Leave!

Thanks to the change in times and laws, women are eligible to take maternity leave and they can take paid leave for six months. There is dedicated legislation for this and women working in public and private sectors can avail the facility. Of late, we are hearing a new demand.

For some time, we have been hearing a demand to create space for paternity leave. A few IT companies gave leaves for men to take care of pregnant wives and newborn kids. Amid this, a court made some key comments and emphasized the need to have the leaves.

Going into details, a Police Inspector from Tamil Nadu named police inspector B Sarvana applied for leave as his wife is carrying. Though the leave was granted initially, the higher officials are said to have canceled it and served him a memo. The cop moved the Telangana High Court to challenge it.

Hearing the petition, the High Court canceled the memo and opined that men should get paternity leave to take care of wives. The Court said that legislation should be brought that grants leave and the private sector should also look into this.

As per the media reports, the High Court is said to have highlighted the role a father plays in parenting and opined that they should get leave. Giving the example of a few nations where fathers get paternity leave, the High Court of Madras said that legislation should be brought to see that fathers get leave to take care of wives.

The inspector's wife became pregnant through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) method. As it needs more care, he applied for leave from 01.05.2023 to 29.07.2023. But his wife delivered on 31.05.2023. His higher officials canceled his leave and his application was not considered and was asked to resume his duties.

Following this, the inspector moved the High Court and got a big relief. The Court not only cancel the order but also shed light on the importance of having a law for this. The bench of the High Court reportedly said that not giving Paternity Leave to Father is like a Violation of Article 21.