Supreme Court Strikes Down Provision Restricting Maternity Leave for Adoptive Mothers

SC of India in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v Union of India and Others, 2026 INSC 246, has held Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 (SS Code) as unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India (Constitution) insofar as it restricts maternity benefit to an adoptive mother who adopts a child below the age of three months.