Maternity benefits can't be sought after cessation of contract, says HC; refuses relief to professor

Mumbai, Jul 14 (PTI) Maternity benefits cannot be sought after cessation of contract and when there is no employee-employer relationship, the Bombay High Court said refusing relief to a professor who was refused maternity leave and benefits by a suburban college here. The college had claimed that the woman could not have sought maternity leave and benefits as her ad-hoc contractual appointment had expired months before she was to go on leave. A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe, in its order passed on Monday, said the entitlement to maternity leave must be examined within the framework of the law and also the terms and conditions governing the employment of the woman seeking such benefit. The court said it was conscious of the fact that the right of a woman employee to claim maternity leave is to safeguard the dignity of motherhood and the health and welfare of both the mother and child. "The importance of such benefit cannot be understated," it said. The bench noted that in the present case, the woman sought to avail the maternity benefit after expiry of her contractual appointment. "We fail to comprehend in what capacity the respondent (woman) could claim maternity benefits from the college when she admittedly ceased to be its contract employee," the court said. The bench noted that the maternity benefit arises out of and during the subsistence of the employer-employee relationship but in the present case, the woman delivered her baby in June which was after the expire of her ad-hoc contractual appointment. There was no employer-employee relationship between the college and the woman, the HC said. The court also remarked that the woman was not dismissed or terminated from service during her pregnancy and that her appointment simply came to an end. "The college neither terminated her services prematurely nor declined to renew her employment on account of her pregnancy or maternity. The cessation of service was the natural consequence of the expire of a fixed-term ad-hoc contractual appointment and not the result of any punitive or discriminative action," the HC said. The bench quashed the authority's order and held that the woman was not entitled for maternity leave and benefits as claimed by her. The court was hearing a petition filed by a suburban college challenging the July 2025 order passed by the assistant commissioner of labour and appellate authority under the Maternity Benefit Act directing the college to pay a sum of Rs 2,43,500 towards maternity benefits. The college was also directed to not terminate the services of the woman during the maternity leave period. The woman was appointed on an ad-hoc basis as an assistant professor from June 2023 to April 2024. In March 2024, the woman applied for maternity leave from June 14 stating that her expected date of delivery was July 18, 2024. The college claimed that the woman could not claim maternity benefits after the cessation of her ad-hoc contractual appointment. It further said that the woman was never removed or terminated from employment during her pregnancy and that her contractual appointment merely came to end by efflux of time and the same was not renewed. As per the college's plea, the woman after expiry of her contractual appointment sought to know if she would be considered for a fresh appointment for the ensuing academic year. The college informed her that a decision regarding the same would be taken only in June and that her request for maternity benefits too would be considered only in the event she was appointed afresh for the next academic year. The woman was, however, not appointed for the next year as she was not in a position to assume duties after having delivered a baby in June. The woman in October 2024 lodged a complaint with the concerned authority, claiming that she was unlawfully terminated from her services and wrongfully denied her maternity benefits. PTI SP NP