The Allahabad High Court, while dealing with the issue of whether a woman is eligible for maternity leave after the birth of a child under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, ruled in the affirmative and stated that, “it is more than apparent that the Maternity Benefit can be extended even after birth of a child. It can even be extended in a case of a legal adoption of a child of less than three months. The only restriction being that the maternity leave may not be granted for entire 180 days or 26 weeks.”
