RENU CHAUDHARY Vs. STATE OF U. P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, an Assistant Teacher at the Prathmik Vidyalaya, Uncha (Composit), Shamshabad, District - Agra, impugns an order dtd. 20/11/2020 passed by the Basic Education Officer, Development Block, Shamshabad, District - Agra, refusing to sanction her maternity leave.

(2.) The petitioner is an Assistant Teacher, working with the Prathmik Vidyalaya Uncha (Composit), Shamshabad, Agra. The Institution aforesaid is established and maintained by the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board. The petitioner functions under the overall supervision and control of the Basic Education Officer, Agra and under the immediate control of the Headmaster, Prathmik Vidyalaya Uncha (Composit), Shamshabad, Agra. Admittedly, the petitioner was appointed to the post of Assistant Teacher on 29/6/2011 and joined services w.e.f. 1/7/2011. It is common ground between parties that at the time of entry into service, the petitioner was a married woman. Her service record shows that a son was born to her on August the 19th, 2007 and a daughter on September the 15th, 2011. Thus, a daughter was born to the petitioner soon after she joined service on July the 1st, 2011. It is perhaps for the said reason that the current leave balance account of the petitioner, that has been annexed as Annexure No. S.A.1 to the supplementary affidavit dtd. 18/6/2021, shows that she has availed 180 days of maternity leave, out of the total admissible of 540, leaving a balance of 360 days in the category. Though not very explicitly said by the petitioner, the availed maternity leave would relate to the second child born to the petitioner soon after she joined service.

(3.) The petitioner made an application for grant of maternity leave, submitting it online on November the 10th, 2020. This application of the petitioner's has come to be rejected by the order impugned dtd. 20/11/2020, passed by the Basic Education Officer, Shamshabad, Agra, employing words that express reason for the rejection, that say : "Leave applied for third child without any specific reason". It is this order which the petitioner seeks to assail by means of the present petition.