Supreme Court to examine legality of maternity leave cap for adoptive mothers under Social Security
New Delhi: More than 11 months after reserving its verdict, the Supreme Court has decided to examine the constitutional validity of a provision in the Code on Social Security, 2020, that restricts maternity leave for adoptive mothers to cases where the adopted child is below three months of age.
A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan has permitted Karnataka-based lawyer Hamsaanandini Nanduri to amend her pending petition to directly challenge Section 60(4) of the 2020 Code. The provision, which came into force last month, mirrors an earlier clause in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, despite that law now standing repealed.
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The court noted that although it had reserved judgment in Nanduri’s petition on January 29, 2025, the Union government proceeded to notify the Social Security Code on November 21, 2025, retaining the very restriction under challenge, as reported by Hindustan times. Observing that Section 60(4) of the new Code is pari materia with Section 5(4) of the 1961 Act, the bench allowed the amendment and said the matter would be listed for pronouncement of judgment after the revised plea is placed on record.
Under Section 60(4), an adoptive mother is entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave only if the adopted child is under three months old. The law does not provide any maternity leave for adoptions involving older children, including those who are orphaned, abandoned or surrendered.
In her petition, which was originally filed in 2021, Nanduri has argued that the provision is arbitrary and discriminatory. She also mentioned that it was violating Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution. She has contended that the law creates unreasonable distinctions between biological and adoptive mothers, between different categories of adoptive mothers, and even among adopted children themselves.
Nanduri, who became an adoptive mother in 2017, adopted two siblings through the Central Adoption Resource Authority, a four-and-a-half-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother, after authorities made it clear that the children could not be separated. When she applied for maternity leave, her employer informed her that she was eligible for only six weeks’ leave per child, as neither met the statutory age requirement of three months.
Describing the provision as offering only “lip service” to adoptive parents, Nanduri has maintained that the restriction fails to recognise the emotional, physical and caregiving demands involved in adopting older children, many of whom come from vulnerable backgrounds.
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Dense fog disrupts Delhi airport operations, over 130 flights impacted
New Delhi: Flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport were severely disrupted on Monday due to very dense fog that drastically reduced visibility across the national capital, officials said.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express, more than 130 flights were impacted, including 128 cancellations 64 arrivals and 64 departures while eight flights were diverted to other airports as airlines struggled to operate under adverse weather conditions.
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Sharing a passenger advisory on X (formerly Twitter), the Delhi Airport informed that "flight operations are currently being conducted under CAT III conditions due to dense fog, which may result in delays or cancellations."
The disruption comes amid worsening weather and environmental conditions in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an orange alert for very dense fog across Delhi-NCR, warning of travel delays and poor visibility during early morning hours.
As per the report, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) hovered around 460 in the early hours, placing it in the “hazardous” category. As many as 19 monitoring stations reported hazardous air quality, with Anand Vihar recording the worst levels. Other areas reported air quality ranging from “very poor” to “severe.”
Meanwhile, the Delhi government is considering a partnership with IIT Kanpur to deploy Artificial Intelligence for pinpointing pollution sources and evaluating their impact.
Officials reportedly said the environment department is working on a roadmap for the partnership, including institutional mechanisms and phased implementation. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the focus would be on data-driven decision-making. “We are moving towards a model where decisions are driven by real-time data, source identification, and measurable outcomes, not reactive measures.” he said.
He proposed initiative aims to enable targeted interventions across sectors by strengthening Delhi’s ability to track pollution sources at a granular level.
