What Happened
- The Supreme Court, in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246), struck down Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 on March 17, 2026
- Section 60(4) had restricted maternity benefits for adoptive mothers to cases where the adopted child was under three months of age at the time of adoption
- A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan held this restriction violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution
- The Court ruled that adoptive mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave irrespective of the child's age at the time of adoption
- The Court recognised that the right to reproductive autonomy under Article 21 extends beyond biological childbirth to include the choice to form a family through adoption
- The bench also urged the Union government to introduce statutory paternity leave as a social security benefit, noting that caregiving responsibilities must be shared between parents
Static Topic Bridges
Article 14 and the Test of Reasonable Classification
Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws. It permits classification provided the classification has a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved by the legislation. If the classification fails this nexus test, it becomes arbitrary and violates Article 14.
- The classification must be founded on an intelligible differentia (a clear distinguishing feature)
- The differentia must have a rational relation to the object of the law
- A law that benefits mothers but draws arbitrary distinctions among them based on mode of family formation fails the nexus test
- Landmark case: E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu (1974) — the Court broadened Article 14 to include arbitrariness as a ground of violation
Connection to this news: The Court found that Section 60(4)'s three-month age cap for adoptive children bore no rational nexus to the purpose of maternity benefits — supporting a mother's caregiving role — since that need exists regardless of the child's age at the time of adoption.
Article 21: Reproductive Autonomy and the Right to Form a Family
Article 21 guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. The Supreme Court has progressively expanded its scope to include the right to dignity, privacy, and reproductive autonomy. In K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), a nine-judge bench unanimously held that the right to privacy — including decisional privacy over choices relating to family and reproduction — is a fundamental right.
- Reproductive autonomy includes the freedom to decide whether, when, and how to have children — biological or adoptive
- Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration (2009): Court held that reproductive choices fall within the right to personal liberty under Article 21
- The 2026 judgment extended this principle: adoption as a mode of family formation is itself an exercise of reproductive autonomy
- The Court held that an atypical family structure cannot strip a parent of constitutional rights available to biological parents
Connection to this news: The ruling affirms that adoptive mothers share the same constitutional entitlement to support for their caregiving role as biological mothers. The State cannot condition maternity benefits on the biological method of parenthood.
Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Maternity Benefit Framework
The Code on Social Security, 2020 is one of four labour codes that consolidate 29 central labour laws. It subsumes the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Chapter VI of the Code deals with maternity benefits for women employed in establishments with ten or more workers.
- The 1961 Maternity Benefit Act: provided 12 weeks of paid leave for biological mothers; the 2017 amendment increased this to 26 weeks for the first two children
- Adoptive and commissioning mothers (surrogacy): entitled to 12 weeks under the 2017 amendment, but only if the child adopted was under three months old (this was the condition struck down)
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 re-enacted this restriction in Section 60(4)
- The Court directed that the section be read to provide 12 weeks from the date the child is handed over, regardless of age
- Paternity leave: currently has no statutory recognition under central law for private-sector workers; available only in central government service (15 days under Central Civil Services Leave Rules)
Connection to this news: The ruling identifies a gap in the labour law framework — the absence of paternity leave — and calls for legislative action. This has direct implications for GS2 (welfare schemes, labour laws) and GS1 (social issues, gender equality) examination answers.
Gender Equality and Dismantling Gendered Parenting Norms
The UPSC GS4 and GS1 syllabi cover issues of gender justice and constitutional morality. The Court's call for paternity leave is rooted in the idea that care work is not inherently feminine and that law must reflect and reinforce gender equality in family structures.
- India's female labour force participation rate remains low (~25% for women vs. ~76% for men per PLFS 2023-24)
- One structural barrier: asymmetric parental leave that places the entire caregiving burden on women
- Countries such as Sweden, Iceland, and Germany have statutory paternity/parental leave; India lags behind
- The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified by India in 1993, requires states to take measures to prevent discrimination based on maternity and ensure equal parental responsibilities
Connection to this news: The Supreme Court's nudge to legislate paternity leave moves the discourse from maternity benefit as a "women's issue" to a shared parenting right — a perspective directly relevant to UPSC essay and Mains questions on gender equality and welfare state obligations.
Key Facts & Data
- Case: Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India, 2026 INSC 246
- Bench: Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan
- Date of judgment: March 17, 2026
- Provision struck down: Section 60(4), Code on Social Security, 2020
- Constitutional grounds: Violation of Articles 14 and 21
- Entitlement now: 12 weeks maternity leave for all adoptive mothers, irrespective of child's age at adoption
- Central government paternity leave: 15 days (Central Civil Services Leave Rules); no equivalent for private-sector workers
- Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidates 29 central labour laws