1President, National Labour Law Association, New Delhi, & Visting Professor, National Law Institute University, Bhopal and Hony. Professor, Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad. Formerly Professor & Dean, Faculty of Law, Kurukshetra University and); Director, Institute of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, New Delhi, UGC National Fellow Research Professor, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi.
*Email: drsc2003srivastava@gmail.com
This paper critically examines the Supreme Court’s decision in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India1, which struck down the agebased restriction under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The provision had limited maternity benefits for adoptive mothers to cases where the adopted child was below three months of age. The Court held this restriction regarding age unconstitutional, finding it violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. By extending maternity benefits to all adoptive mothers irrespective of the child’s age, the judgment affirms adoption as a legitimate exercise of reproductive autonomy and strengthens child welfare. The case also raises questions of judicial legislation, as the Court effectively rewrote the statutory provision, and signals a progressive shift toward recognizing paternity leave as part of India’s social security framework.
Maternity benefits, Adoption, Code on social security 2020, Maternity benefit act 1961, Articles 14 and 21 ofthe Constitution
