A Supreme Court lawyer today filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality and constitutionality of laws and rules that restrict maternity leave and maternity benefits based on the number of a woman's children.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan submitted the public interest litigation, seeking a directive from the court for the authorities concerned to ensure equal maternity protection for all women workers and employees, irrespective of how many children they have.
The petition challenges Section 46(2) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, relevant provisions of the Bangladesh Service Rules (BSR), and other analogous statutory and administrative provisions that deny or limit maternity leave and benefits for women with more than two children.
According to the petition, maternity leave is a health protection measure intended to safeguard maternal health, postnatal recovery, breastfeeding, childcare and newborn welfare.
It states that a mother's need for medical recovery and care after childbirth remains the same whether she gives birth to her first, second or third child. Therefore, denying maternity protection solely on the basis of the number of surviving children is arbitrary, discriminatory and inconsistent with constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity and protection of life.
The petition contends that such restrictions violate Articles 7, 15, 18, 27, 28, 31 and 32 of the Constitution and undermine the state's obligations relating to public health, social security and the protection of motherhood.
It also refers to Bangladesh's international commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and internationally recognised maternity protection standards.
Contacted, Advocate Ishrat Hasan told The Daily Star that maternity leave should not be used as a population-control mechanism but should be recognised as an essential maternal and child health protection measure.
The High Court may hold a hearing on the petition next week, she added.
