‘Maternity benefit’ for aspiring lawyer

Delhi High Court has come to the rescue of an aspiring woman lawyer, denied permission to appear for her LLB final semester exams as she did not have the requisite 66 per cent attendance in the sixth semester.

Delhi High Court has come to the rescue of an aspiring woman lawyer, denied permission to appear for her LLB final semester exams as she did not have the requisite 66 per cent attendance in the sixth semester.

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Vandana Kandari had only 54 per cent attendance. The reason — she could not attend some classes in the semester which commenced on January 6, and ended on April 10 — as she delivered a child on January 10.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna and her counsel R.K. Saini brought to the attention of the court the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and Delhi University’s rules under which a student can avail relaxations in genuine and deserving cases, Kandari can appear for her final (sixth) semester exams starting on Monday, April 20.

The court took into account the fact that she had an impressive attendance of more than 86 percent in the fifth semester and an overall aggregate attendance of 80 per cent from the first semester.

As per the Maternity Benefit Act, a working woman is entitled to leave for a period of six weeks from the day of her delivery. Saini argued that even the Supreme Court had in a similar case observed:“To become a mother is the most natural phenomenon in the life of a woman. Whatever is needed to facilitate the birth of a child to a women in service, the employer has to be considerate and sympathetic towards her.”

Justice Khanna said her results will be withheld till her case against DU is decided.