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Judicial Intervention In Maternity Protections: Advancing Reproductive Justice And Economic Rights In India

Reproductive justice means being able to make informed decisions about one’s own body. Maternity leave and benefits are an important aspect of reproductive justice, as women are able to carry out a safe pregnancy and childbirth with dignity and without economic insecurity. In India, maternity benefits ensure job security, continuity of income and access to healthcare during and after pregnancy. India’s commitment to maternity protections can be seen through judicial interventions. The Supreme Court through landmark judgements such as Suchita Srivastava vs Chandigarh Administration, 2009, has recognized maternity leave as a facet of the right to life, health and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. More recently, in K. Umadevi vs State of Tamil Nadu, 2025, the court declared maternity leave and benefits to be a constitutional right, even beyond the two-child norm. Although maternity leave has been considered a fundamental right and given statutory protection under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, as amended in 2017, the Act primarily focuses on the formal sector and does not provide direct legal protection to working women in the informal sector. While courts in India have helped by recognizing maternity benefits as a basic right, challenges such as employer non-compliance, lack of awareness and workplace discrimination significantly reduce their effectiveness. There remains a clear gap between what the Constitution promises in terms of reproductive justice and what women, especially those working in the informal sector, actually experience in daily lives. This paper looks at whether judicial intervention has helped close this gap.