The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared as unconstitutional a key provision in the Code on Social Security, 2020, that restricted maternity leave for adoptive mothers to those adopting children below three months of age, holding that all adoptive mothers will be entitled to 12 weeks of leave from the date of adoption, irrespective of the child’s age.. For representational purposes only. (File Photo). A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan ruled that the age-based classification under Section 60(4) of the Code was “discriminatory” and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, emphasising that adoption is an equally valid pathway to parenthood and cannot be treated differently from biological childbirth.. In a notable observation, the bench also urged the Union government to consider introducing paternity leave as a social welfare measure, signalling the need for a more gender-neutral and inclusive approach to caregiving.. Delivering the judgment, justice Pardiwala said the provision failed the test of constitutional scrutiny as it bore no rational nexus with the object of maternity protection, which is to ensure care, bonding and integration of the child into the family.. “The impugned provision is held to be discriminatory both for the adoptive mother as well as the adoptive child. Adoption is an equally meaningful pathway for creating a family…biological factors cannot exclusively determine familial values and entitlements,” the court said.. Reading down Section 60(4), the court held that the statutory benefit of 12 weeks’ maternity leave must apply equally to adoptive and commissioning mothers, beginning from the date of adoption, without any age restriction on the child.. The bench underscored that the purpose of maternity leave does not vary based on how a child enters a family, rejecting the distinction drawn between mothers adopting infants below three months and those adopting older children.. “A mother cannot be differentiated between one who brings home a child less than three months and one who adopts a child of a higher age,” the court held. It added that the right to reproductive autonomy is not confined to biological birth, expanding the constitutional understanding of parenthood to include adoption.. The court placed significant emphasis on the best interests of the child, noting that older children, particularly those adopted from institutional care, often require greater time for emotional adjustment and integration into a new family. “The paramount consideration has to be the best interest of the child…including the period required for the child to integrate into the new family,” the bench said.. By denying maternity leave for children above three months, the law not only disadvantaged adoptive mothers but also undermined the welfare and developmental needs of adopted children, the court held.. The ruling comes in a petition filed by Karnataka-based lawyer Hamsaanandini Nanduri, who had 

 A woman died after drowning when she fell into a drain after the collapse of an iron bridge in north Delhi’s Roop Nagar on Tuesday morning.. Rescue teams from the Boat Club are conducting an operation to check if more people may have fallen into the drain after the bridge gave way. (HT). Rescue teams from the Boat Club are conducting an operation to check if more people may have fallen into the drain after the bridge gave way, HT has learnt.. This incident comes after a series of pit-related deaths reported across the national capital this year, indicating a lack of basic safety measures put in place under contract rules and traffic police conditions for road work in several areas.. Kamal Dhyani, a 25-year-old bank telecaller, died in west Delhi’s Janakpuri in the early hours of February 5, reportedly after falling into a 4-5-metre-deep pit that had been left open and without safety cover on a poorly lit road. Delhi Police has arrested a contractor who had dug the pit as part of a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) project in Janakpuri.. More details are awaited. 

 Chennai, AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami has claimed that the current DMK regime has transformed Tamil Nadu into a “hub of drug trafficking” and alleged that people wonder if the state government was protecting the innocent public or “shielding the anti-social elements”.. DMK regime made TN a hub of drug trafficking, claims AIADMK chief Palaniswami. After M K Stalin took over the reins as Chief Minister in 2021, Tamil Nadu has been turned into a hub of ganja trafficking, illicit liquor sales and drug mafia. “This government has created a situation where there is no place in the state where ganja is not available. To put it bluntly, media reports show college students and even school students using drugs, including ganja, in a very casual manner,” the AIADMK general secretary has claimed.. “This has raised serious doubts among the people as to whether the ruling party and the chief minister are protecting the people or shielding those involved in the crimes,” Palaniswami said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’ on Monday night.. People across the state were agitated due to the increasing crimes and wanted this “incompetent and anti-people regime of the puppet chief minister to end,” the AIADMK chief said.. The drug menace apart, the brutal sexual assaults and murders against women and children have become rampant as never before.. “There have been about 30 lockup deaths in the last 5 years of the DMK rule. In the last two months alone, 4 Scheduled Caste youths have died in custody. People are clearly realising where law and order is heading under the DMK regime – a classic case of fence grazing the crops – and are deeply distressed,” Palaniswami alleged.. People felt insecure over the current law and order situation and wanted to know why the DMK government has not taken any action to ensure law and order, he said and appealed to the people to throw out the “anti-people regime”.. DMK government had always been dismissive of such allegations, and days ago, a top official, citing data, had said that the incidence of crime has witnessed a steady decline in the state.. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. 

 Taking note of Vikrant Jaitly’s “wish to not communicate with his sister”, the Delhi high court on Monday closed the petition of Bollywood actor Celina Jaitly was seeking directions to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to facilitate interaction with her brother.. Celina Jaitly’s brother, Major (Retd) Vikrant Jaitly, has been in detention in the UAE for 18 months now.. Celina’s petition seeks directions to the Centre to facilitate legal assistance for her brother and enable communication with him. Vikrant Jaitly has been detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for over 18 months for reasons not known yet.. The Centre on Monday told the Delhi high court that Celina Jaitly’s detained brother Vikrant was unwilling to be represented by any law firm, including the one chosen by his sister, to communicate with her, and had said that decisions regarding legal representation would be taken solely by his wife, Charul, HT reported earlier.. The submission was made by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma before a bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav in Celina’s petition. The same was based on a February 18 meeting between the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Vikrant.. Noting submissions by the ASG, the high court closed Celina Jaitly’s petition and turned down her further request for at least one opportunity to speak with her brother through video conferencing to confirm his stand.. Saying that the court must adhere to Vikrant’s stated position and that the reliefs sought had been “sufficiently” addressed, the judge said that there was no reason to keep the matter pending.. The court said that the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi had been in “active contact with Vikrant” and had interacted with him nine times since his detention. The bench directed the Centre to continue providing legal assistance to Vikrant and look after his well-being.. “The Indian officials deputed in UAE, when interacted and when Mr Jaitly says something we’ll have to adhere to it. There is no reason to doubt that. Why we should continue this petition?”, the earlier report quoted the bench as saying.. On the basis of the statement and undertakings given by the MEA, the bench said, it has come on record that the respondent is in active contact with Vikrant Jaitly.. It also appears that counsellor access to Jaitely has been granted, the bench further said.. “The officials of the embassy of India in Abu Dhabi have interacted 9 times. In view of the aforesaid, aforenoted facts and developments, there is no reason to keep the petition pending and the same is accordingly disposed of,” it said. 

 Former Prime Minister and Rajya Sabha lawmaker HD Deve Gowda wrote to Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday, expressing concern over disruptions that have been “unthinkingly” introduced inside and outside Parliament by Congress leaders.. File photo of former PM HD Deve Gowda in the Rajya Sabha. (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab). Deve Gowda told Gandhi he has been “greatly disturbed by a certain chaos orchestrated “primarily by the opposition parties” and said, “I strongly feel that Congress parliamentarians, led by the Leader of Opposition, have provoked far too many disruptions inside Parliament and in its premises.”. The veteran leader also claimed that there is an “unprecedented” scale of disruptions in the recent times.. “Parliament, in recent times, has witnessed an excess of slogan-shouting, display of placards and name-calling. There has been an attitude of non-seriousness, which has assaulted my very idea and construct of Parliament and parliamentary democracy,” he added.. Deve Gowda urged Gandhi to speak to her party leaders and others in the opposition, and ask them “not to harm themselves, their cause and their political futures in the long run”.. “I am very confident that you will do the needful…,” the former prime minister said.