HC quashes J&K order denying maternity leave salary to Senior Residents, directs full pay

11/07/2026

JAMMU, Jul 10: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has quashed a government communi-cation denying pay and allowances to Senior Residents and Tutors during maternity leave, holding that maternity benefits are a constitutional right and cannot be curtailed on the ground that doctors are engaged on a tenure basis.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal passed the judgment while allowing a writ petition filed by Dr. Sonakshi Gupta and others. The petitioners were represented by Advocate Abhinav Jamwal, while the Union Territory of J&K was represented by Additional Advocate General Raman Sharma assisted by Advocate Saliqa Sheikh.
The petitioners challenged a commun-ication dated October 14, 2025, whereby the Health and Medical Education Department, acting on the advice of the Finance Department, denied pay and allowances to Senior Residents and Tutors during maternity leave despite Government Order No. 451-JK(HME) of 2024 extending maternity leave benefits to them in accordance with Government rules.
Rejecting the stand of the respondents, Justice Oswal observed that the Government could not deny financial benefits after expressly extending maternity leave under the applicable rules.
"In a glaring departure from its character as a compassionate welfare State, the respondents have sought to penalize the petitioners for the foundational human experience of motherhood," the Court observed. It further held that "maternity benefits are an extension of the right to live with dignity; to strip the petitioners of their emoluments at their most vulnerable hours is a profound constitutional injury."
The Court ruled that Rule 41(1) of the J&K Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1979, as amended, entitles a female employee to maternity leave with full leave salary and that the respondents could not deny these protections merely because the petitioners were engaged under the Academic Arrangement Rules, 2020.
Justice Oswal also relied upon the Division Bench judgment in Jammu and Kashmir Bank Ltd. and others vs. Tanu Gupta, as well as Supreme Court decisions in Municipal Corporation of Delhi vs. Female Workers (Muster Roll), Deepika Singh vs. PGIMER, Chandigarh, and Kavita Yadav vs. State (NCT of Delhi), holding that maternity leave provisions must receive a beneficial interpretation consistent with constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity and gender justice.
Holding the impugned communication to be arbitrary and unconstitutional, the High Court quashed it to the extent it denied pay and allowances during maternity and paternity leave.
The Court directed the Government to grant full pay and allowances to the petitioners during the period of maternity leave as well as during the extended period of residency corresponding to the number of days of maternity leave, observing that "maternity leave cannot be reduced to a matter of state charity; it is an unassailable constitutional right anchored in the dignity of women."

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