# Maternity benefit for adoptive mothers in India **TL;DR:** Under Indian law, a woman who legally adopts a child or becomes a mother through surrogacy (a commissioning mother) is entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over to her. In March 2026, the Supreme Court of India struck down the restriction that limited this benefit to cases where the adopted child was below three months of age, holding the age cut-off unconstitutional under Articles 14 and 21. All adoptive mothers now qualify, regardless of the child's age at the time of adoption. --- ## On this page - [The legal framework: from the 1961 Act to the Social Security Code](#the-legal-framework) - [Who qualifies: biological, adoptive, and commissioning mothers](#who-qualifies) - [The three-month age cut-off and its constitutional challenge](#the-three-month-age-cut-off) - [Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India: the 2026 ruling](#hamsaanandini-nanduri) - [Commissioning mothers and the surrogacy framework](#commissioning-mothers-and-surrogacy) - [Government employees vs. private-sector employees](#government-vs-private-sector) - [Practical HR steps for employers](#practical-hr-steps) - [How Niyam helps](#how-niyam-helps) - [Frequently asked questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [Key takeaways](#key-takeaways) --- ## The legal framework India's maternity benefit law has been through two major legislative landmarks since independence: the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and its successor, the Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act No. 36 of 2020). The 2020 Code consolidated nine central labour statutes and, once it came into force on 21 November 2025, effectively repealed the 1961 Act for the establishments it covers. **The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961** was the foundational statute. It entitled every woman employed in a factory, mine, plantation, shop, or similar establishment to maternity benefit at an average daily wage rate for the period of her absence around childbirth. The original 1961 Act had no provision for adoptive or commissioning mothers; those women had no statutory entitlement at all. **The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017** changed this. Parliament raised ordinary maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for women with fewer than two surviving children (12 weeks if the woman already has two or more surviving children). Crucially, the 2017 Amendment inserted **Section 5(4)** into the 1961 Act, which read: > "A woman who legally adopts a child below the age of three months or a commissioning mother shall be entitled to maternity benefit for a period of twelve weeks from the date the child is handed over to the adopting mother or the commissioning mother, as the case may be." When the Code on Social Security, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025, the equivalent provision became **Section 60(4)** of that Code. The text tracked Section 5(4) almost verbatim: adoptive mothers and commissioning mothers were entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from handover, but adoptive mothers were still subject to the condition that the child be below three months of age at adoption. This age cut-off, as explained below, was the provision that the Supreme Court struck down in 2026. **Key numbers at a glance** | Category | Ordinary maternity benefit | Post-2017 / 2020 Code | |---|---|---| | Woman with fewer than 2 surviving children | 12 weeks (pre-2017) | 26 weeks | | Woman with 2 or more surviving children | 12 weeks | 12 weeks | | Adoptive mother (child below 3 months) | Nil (pre-2017) | 12 weeks | | Adoptive mother (child 3 months or above) | Nil | Nil (struck down in 2026) | | Commissioning mother | Nil (pre-2017) | 12 weeks | --- ## Who qualifies ### Biological mothers Any woman who has worked for at least 80 days in the 12 months immediately preceding the expected date of delivery qualifies for maternity benefit under Section 60 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 (previously Section 5 of the 1961 Act). The benefit covers establishments with 10 or more employees (for ESI-covered establishments, the ESI Act provisions apply and the Code's maternity chapter does not). For biological mothers, the 80-day work-period requirement applies. Benefits are payable for the six-week period before the expected delivery date plus the period after, up to the maximum entitlement. ### Adoptive mothers A woman who **legally adopts a child** is entitled to maternity benefit for **12 weeks** from the date the child is handed over to her. The 80-day pre-qualifying period under the general maternity benefit rule does not appear to be separately imposed for adoptive mothers under Section 60(4); the provision specifies only that the woman must have legally adopted the child and that the benefit runs from handover. Before the 2026 Supreme Court ruling (discussed below), this 12-week entitlement applied only where the adopted child was below three months of age at the time of handover. The Supreme Court's judgment in *Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India* (2026 INSC 246) struck down that age restriction entirely. ### Commissioning mothers A **commissioning mother** is a biological mother who uses her own egg to create an embryo that is implanted in another woman (a surrogate). The commissioning mother is the genetic and legal mother of the child. Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 expressly covers commissioning mothers and entitles them to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over to them. The age-of-child restriction in Section 60(4) was never applied to commissioning mothers (they receive the child at or shortly after birth), so the 2026 ruling does not materially change their entitlement, though the judgment affirms that commissioning motherhood is a constitutionally protected form of reproductive autonomy under Article 21. ### Entitlement comparison table | Entitlement | Biological mother | Adoptive mother (post-2026) | Commissioning mother | |---|---|---|---| | Maternity benefit payable | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Maximum weeks | 26 (if fewer than 2 children) / 12 | 12 | 12 | | 80-day prior employment required | ✓ | Not specified separately | Not specified separately | | Age-of-child condition | N/A | ✗ (struck down) | N/A | | Applies in ESI-covered establishments | ✗ (ESI provisions apply) | ✗ (ESI provisions apply) | ✗ (ESI provisions apply) | | Medical bonus (if no pre/postnatal care) | ✓ | Not specified | Not specified | | Nursing breaks | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Work-from-home option (mutual agreement) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Creche entitlement (50+ employee establishments) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | --- ## The three-month age cut-off Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, as inserted by the 2017 Amendment, and its successor Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, restricted maternity benefit for adoptive mothers to situations where the child was below three months of age at the time the child was handed over. An adoptive mother who received a child aged, say, four months received nothing. This cut-off was designed, in theory, to limit the benefit to cases resembling biological motherhood most closely: a very young infant handed over to a new mother. But the restriction produced outcomes that were arbitrary in practice for two structural reasons. **First, CARA timelines make the cut-off self-defeating.** Adoption in India is regulated by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and administered by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. CARA's process involves registration, home study, dossier preparation, matching, acceptance, and court orders. The process typically takes between six months and two years in full, and children are frequently between 10 months and 14 months of age by the time they are legally matched and handed over. Under the three-month rule, most adoptive mothers fell outside the entitlement altogether. The very procedural requirements the State imposed on adoption made the benefit illusory. **Second, the caregiving need does not diminish with the child's age.** A mother receiving a six-month-old child who has been in institutional care faces exactly the same caregiving demands, and the same need to be present for attachment and integration, as a mother receiving a two-month-old infant. The distinction lacked a rational nexus to the statute's protective purpose. These were the central grounds on which the provision was challenged before the Supreme Court. --- ## Hamsaanandini Nanduri **Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India, 2026 INSC 246** *Decided: 17 March 2026 | Bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan* Hamsaanandini Nanduri, an adoptive mother, filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (and later, after the Code came into force on 21 November 2025, Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020). The petition was filed in 2021 and was heard over several years. **The constitutional challenge.** The petitioner contended that the age-based restriction violated: - **Article 14** (equality before law and equal protection of laws), because it created an arbitrary and under-inclusive classification among adoptive mothers with no rational connection to the statute's object. - **Article 21** (right to life and personal liberty), because the right to motherhood and to reproductive autonomy, whether biological or adoptive, is a facet of the right to life with dignity. - **Article 19(1)(g)** (right to practise any profession or carry on any occupation), because the restriction created legal disincentives for women who adopt older infants to remain in the workforce. **The Union's defence.** The government argued that the creche facility obligation (available to employees in establishments with 50 or more employees) was an adequate alternative for women who adopted older children, and that the three-month threshold had a rational basis in the analogy with post-natal biological leave. **The Supreme Court's holding.** The bench, in a reportable judgment, struck down the three-month age restriction in Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, as violative of Articles 14 and 21. The court read down the provision to extend 12 weeks of maternity benefit to all adoptive mothers from the date the child is handed over, irrespective of the child's age. Key observations from the bench: - "The right of reproductive autonomy is not confined to the biological act of giving birth." Adoption is an equal and constitutionally protected exercise of decisional autonomy under Article 21. - "An adopted child is no different from a so-called 'natural' child; the only distinction is that the process of adoption is more visible and legally acknowledged." - The age limit "renders the provision illusory" given that CARA's procedural timelines mean most children exceed three months before legal handover. Children with disabilities, who face even longer institutional stays, are disproportionately affected. - The government's creche-facility argument was rejected: creche obligations apply only to establishments with 50 or more employees, leaving women in smaller workplaces without any alternative support. - Motherhood, whether achieved biologically or through adoption, is "a deeply personal and emotional experience" and a constitutionally protected facet of dignity, equality, and personal autonomy. - "Best interests of the child" extends throughout the child's integration into the adoptive family, not merely at the completion of adoption formalities. **Direction to the Union.** The court also urged the Union government to enact legislation recognising paternity leave as a recognised social security benefit, with duration determined responsively to parental and child needs. **Effect of the ruling.** The judgment does not create a new entitlement; it removes an unconstitutional restriction. The quantum remains 12 weeks from the date of handover. What changes is that the entitlement now applies to every adoptive mother regardless of the child's age at adoption. Employers who were previously denying leave to adoptive mothers of children above three months must now extend the full 12-week benefit. --- ## Commissioning mothers and the surrogacy framework The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which came into force in 2022, regulates altruistic surrogacy in India and prohibits commercial surrogacy. Under this framework, a commissioning couple (or woman) is the legal parent of the child born through surrogacy. The intending (commissioning) mother is recognised as the biological mother for all legal purposes, since the embryo is created using her own egg. **Statutory entitlement.** Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, expressly entitles a commissioning mother to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over to her. This provision survived the Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling intact; the age restriction that was struck down applied only to adoptive mothers. For commissioning mothers, there is no age-of-child condition, because the child is received at or shortly after birth. **Government employees.** The Central Government, through the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, has separately issued notifications permitting commissioning mothers who are government servants to avail 180 days of maternity leave (as opposed to the 12-week statutory minimum). Where a commissioning mother has fewer than two surviving children, she is also eligible for childcare leave under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules. This higher entitlement for central government employees exceeds what the Code mandates for private-sector employees. **Judicial recognition.** Courts had recognised commissioning mothers' entitlement to maternity leave even before the 2017 statutory amendment. The Orissa High Court, for instance, held that a woman who attains motherhood through surrogacy is entitled to maternity leave, reading the right into Article 21. The Rajasthan High Court similarly held that no distinction could be drawn between a biological and commissioning mother for maternity leave purposes, and directed the grant of 180 days of maternity leave to a commissioning mother-government employee. **Interaction with the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021.** The ART Act, 2021, which regulates assisted reproductive technology clinics and banks, works alongside the Surrogacy Act. The commissioning couple's genetic and legal parenthood of the child born through ART is recognised under this Act. For maternity benefit purposes, the relevant recognition is under Section 60(4) of the Social Security Code, which does not require cross-referencing the ART Act separately. **Practical tension.** One gap that persists is the difference in entitlement quantum: biological mothers with fewer than two surviving children get 26 weeks, while commissioning and adoptive mothers get only 12 weeks. The Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling addressed the age-of-child condition but did not disturb the 12-week ceiling for adoptive and commissioning mothers. Whether the 12-week versus 26-week differential itself is constitutionally sustainable remains an open question that the Supreme Court did not address in that case. Legal practitioners advising commissioning or adoptive mothers who feel that 12 weeks is insufficient may consider whether a fresh challenge on this ground is warranted. --- ## Government vs. private-sector employees The entitlement for adoptive and commissioning mothers differs depending on whether the employee works in the central government, a state government, or the private sector. **Central government employees** are governed by the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, as amended, which is separate from the Code on Social Security, 2020. The Rules provide 180 days of child adoption leave to a female government servant who adopts a child below the age of one year. The Ministry of Personnel has also extended maternity leave of 180 days to commissioning mothers who are government servants with fewer than two surviving children. These Rules are more generous than the Code both in duration (180 days vs. 12 weeks) and, since the Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling, also more generous in the child-age eligibility (one year under the Rules vs. now no age limit under the Code). **State government employees** are governed by their respective state service leave rules, which vary. Several state governments, including Karnataka and Maharashtra, have adopted provisions similar to the central government rules for adoption leave. Practitioners advising state government employees should check the applicable state service rules directly. **Private-sector and organised-sector employees** are governed by the Code on Social Security, 2020 (or, for ESI-covered establishments, by the ESI Act). For these employees, the entitlement is 12 weeks of maternity benefit from handover, now without any age-of-child restriction following the Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling. **ESI-covered establishments.** Where an establishment is covered by the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (factories and establishments in areas notified under the ESI Act, where the employee draws wages up to the ESI wage ceiling), maternity benefit is payable by the ESIC, not the employer directly. The ESI Regulations also provide maternity benefit to adoptive mothers, with the same 12-week entitlement. Post-Hamsaanandini Nanduri, ESIC-covered adoptive mothers likewise benefit from the removal of the age restriction, though ESIC may need to update its internal circulars to reflect this. **Unorganised workers.** Workers in the unorganised sector are covered by the Code on Social Security, 2020 under a separate chapter, and by schemes notified by the central government. The PM Matru Vandana Yojana provides a conditional cash benefit for pregnant and lactating women, but its eligibility conditions are different from the maternity benefit under the Code. Unorganised-sector adoptive mothers face a more uncertain landscape. --- ## Practical HR steps Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246), employers in the private sector must take the following steps to ensure compliance. **1. Update leave policies immediately.** Any HR policy, employee handbook, or standard operating procedure that refers to "child below three months" as a condition for adoptive maternity leave must be amended. The condition is no longer legally valid. The entitlement is now 12 weeks from the date the child is handed over, regardless of the child's age. **2. Accept documentation of adoption.** Employers should accept a court order or CARA-issued adoption placement order as sufficient documentation to trigger the 12-week maternity benefit. Employers should not require a child's birth certificate showing the child is below three months. **3. Do not insist on CARA finality.** In many adoption cases, the legal adoption order is obtained after the child has already been placed with the prospective adoptive parents. The statutory trigger is "the date the child is handed over," not the date the adoption order is made final. HR teams should recognise the handover date as the start of the 12-week period. **4. Pay maternity benefit at the correct rate.** Maternity benefit is paid at the average daily wage (calculated over the three months preceding the leave). It is not a fixed sum; it reflects the employee's actual pay. **5. Prohibit dismissal or notice during leave.** Section 60 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 (previously Section 12 of the 1961 Act) prohibits discharging, dismissing, or giving notice of dismissal to a woman on account of her taking or applying for maternity leave. This protection applies to adoptive mothers on the 12-week leave. **6. Provide nursing breaks.** Once the adoptive mother returns to work, she is entitled to two nursing breaks per day until the child is 15 months old, in addition to regular rest intervals. This applies regardless of whether the child was adopted. **7. Creche obligations.** Establishments with 50 or more employees must provide or arrange for a creche facility within a prescribed distance. Adoptive mothers have the right to visit the creche four times a day. **8. Document and train.** HR managers and payroll teams should be trained on the updated legal position. Any rejection of a prior maternity benefit claim on the ground that the adopted child was above three months should be reviewed and remediated. Understanding these obligations is part of the broader compliance shift that the four new labour codes have introduced. For a full picture of what the Social Security Code and the other three codes changed for employers, see [what the four labour codes changed in 2025](/blog/four-labour-codes-2025). --- ## How Niyam helps Niyam is an AI legal assistant for India. It researches Indian statutes, case law, and judgments and drafts and reviews, grounded in primary sources with every answer cited. When you search for maternity benefit provisions, Niyam pulls directly from the Code on Social Security, 2020, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and judgments from the corpus of 72,000+ Indian judgments, so you can verify entitlements, check whether a ruling has been followed or distinguished, and draft compliant HR policies, all in one place. [Start for ₹100](https://app.niyam.ai/register) to research the Hamsaanandini Nanduri judgment, CARA adoption leave timelines, and your organisation's current compliance position. --- ## Frequently asked questions ### How many weeks of maternity leave does an adoptive mother get in India? An adoptive mother is entitled to 12 weeks (84 days) of maternity benefit under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020. This runs from the date the child is handed over to her. Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246), this entitlement applies regardless of the age of the adopted child. ### Does the Maternity Benefit Act 1961 still apply, or has it been repealed? The Code on Social Security, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025, effectively replacing the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, for the establishments it covers. For establishments and categories of workers where the Code applies, references to "maternity benefit" are now governed by Section 60 of the Code, not the 1961 Act. The 1961 Act may still apply to establishments and workers not yet brought under the Code's coverage. ### What was the three-month age cut-off for adoptive mothers, and is it still in force? Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 (and previously Section 5(4) of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961) originally restricted maternity benefit to adoptive mothers who adopted children below three months of age. The Supreme Court struck down this restriction as unconstitutional in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246), decided 17 March 2026. It is no longer in force. Adoptive mothers qualify for the 12-week benefit regardless of the child's age. ### Who is a commissioning mother for the purpose of maternity benefit? A commissioning mother is a biological mother who uses her own egg to create an embryo that is implanted in a surrogate. She is recognised as the legal and genetic mother of the child. Under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020, commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over to them. ### Does the 26-week maternity benefit apply to adoptive mothers? No. The 26-week entitlement applies only to biological mothers with fewer than two surviving children. Adoptive and commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks. The Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling did not disturb the 12-week ceiling; it only struck down the age-of-child condition. ### Can an employer refuse maternity leave to an adoptive mother because the child was older than three months at adoption? No. Following Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246), the age-based restriction is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. An employer who refuses maternity benefit on this ground is in violation of the Code on Social Security, 2020, as now read by the Supreme Court. ### What documents must an adoptive mother submit to claim maternity benefit? An employer may reasonably ask for a CARA placement order or a court adoption order confirming the legal adoption. The employer should treat the date of physical handover stated in the placement order as the start date of the 12-week benefit period. No document showing the child is below three months should be required. ### What if the CARA adoption process is still ongoing when the child is handed over? The statutory trigger under Section 60(4) is "the date the child is handed over," not the date the final adoption order is passed by a court. Where CARA has issued a placement order and the child is in the care of the prospective adoptive parent pending a final court order, employers should treat the physical handover date as the triggering date. Legal advice may be warranted in complex cases. ### Is the maternity benefit for adoptive mothers paid by the employer or the government? In non-ESI establishments, the employer pays the maternity benefit directly. In ESI-covered establishments (factories and other notified establishments where the employee earns up to the ESI wage ceiling), ESIC funds and pays the maternity benefit. ### Are women in the unorganised sector entitled to adoption maternity benefit? Unorganised-sector workers are covered by the Code on Social Security, 2020 under separate provisions, and their entitlements depend on schemes notified by the central government. The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana provides conditional cash transfers but has different eligibility conditions from the Code's maternity benefit. Unorganised-sector adoptive mothers should check the current scheme guidelines with the local ICDS or District Magistrate office. ### Does a commissioning mother get maternity benefit if the surrogacy is through the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021? Yes. The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 restricts commercial surrogacy and permits only altruistic surrogacy. A commissioning mother under a lawful altruistic surrogacy arrangement is still entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit under Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security, 2020. Her entitlement does not depend on the surrogacy being commercial or altruistic; it depends on her legal status as the commissioning (genetic) mother of the child. ### Do central government employees get more than 12 weeks for adoption? Yes. Under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, a female central government servant who adopts a child below one year of age is entitled to 180 days (roughly 26 weeks) of child adoption leave. This is significantly more than the 12-week statutory minimum under the Social Security Code. The Ministry of Personnel has also extended similar leave entitlements to commissioning mothers who are central government servants with fewer than two surviving children. ### Does the 80-day prior employment period apply to adoptive mothers? The 80-day qualifying period (80 days of work in the 12 months preceding the date of expected delivery or handover) is prescribed under Section 60(2) of the Code on Social Security, 2020 for maternity benefit generally. Section 60(4), which covers adoptive and commissioning mothers, does not state a separate qualifying period, but the general section's conditions may be read to apply. Employers uncertain about this should seek legal advice. For government employees, no such qualifying period applies. ### What if the adoptive mother is dismissed before her maternity leave ends? Section 60 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 prohibits dismissal or discharge of a woman on account of her pregnancy, delivery, or maternity benefit leave. The same protection extends to adoptive mothers on their 12-week maternity benefit leave. Dismissal during this period is unlawful and the woman retains her entitlement to the maternity benefit. ### Are nursing breaks available to adoptive mothers? Yes. Once an adoptive mother returns to work after the 12-week maternity leave, she is entitled to nursing breaks until the child is 15 months old. These breaks are in addition to regular rest intervals and cannot be counted as part of the working hours for wage-deduction purposes. ### What is the penalty for an employer who denies maternity benefit to an eligible adoptive mother? Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, failure to pay maternity benefit is an offence punishable with imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to fifty thousand rupees, or both. Where the employer fails to pay medical bonus, the penalty is similar. These penalty provisions apply to adoptive-mother benefit denials in the same way as to any other maternity benefit violation. ### Does the ruling in Hamsaanandini Nanduri apply to state government employees too? The Supreme Court's ruling is binding law under Article 141 of the Constitution and applies across all courts and tribunals in India. To the extent any state government rule or circular maintained an age restriction for adoption leave, that rule is now unconstitutional. State governments should update their service rules to comply, though the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules already set a one-year age limit (more generous than the three-month threshold that has been struck down). ### Can an adoptive father claim paternity leave on the same adoption? There is no statutory paternity leave entitlement under the Code on Social Security, 2020 or the repealed Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 for private-sector male employees. Central government servants may avail paternity leave of 15 days under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules. The Supreme Court in Hamsaanandini Nanduri urged the Union to enact legislation recognising paternity leave as a social security benefit, but no such legislation has been enacted as of the date of this article. ### Where can I read the full text of the Hamsaanandini Nanduri judgment? The full text of the judgment is available from the Supreme Court's official website at sci.gov.in (neutral citation: 2026 INSC 246) and has been reported by livelaw.in and scobserver.in. Understanding how to locate and read Supreme Court judgments is a skill worth developing; for guidance on structure and citation, see [how to read and brief an Indian judgment](/blog/how-to-read-a-judgment). ### How does this ruling interact with the four labour codes and the Social Security Code more broadly? The Code on Social Security, 2020 is one of four codes that came into force on 21 November 2025, consolidating dozens of central labour laws. Maternity benefit is now governed by Chapter VI of the Social Security Code. The Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling is an interpretation of Section 60(4) of that Code. Practitioners and HR professionals who need a full picture of what the four codes changed should read [what the four labour codes changed in 2025](/blog/four-labour-codes-2025). For those working on data-protection compliance alongside HR policy updates, the [DPDP Rules 2025 explainer](/blog/dpdp-rules-2025) is also relevant, since employee personal data collected during the maternity benefit process falls within its scope. For legal research methodology when working with new case law, see [avoiding hallucinations in AI legal research](/blog/ai-legal-research-india). --- ## Key takeaways - The Code on Social Security, 2020, which replaced the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, came into force on 21 November 2025. Maternity benefit is now governed by Section 60. - Adoptive mothers and commissioning mothers are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity benefit from the date the child is handed over (Section 60(4)). - The three-month age cut-off that restricted this entitlement to adoptive mothers of children below three months was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India (2026 INSC 246, decided 17 March 2026, bench: Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice R. Mahadevan). - All adoptive mothers now qualify for 12 weeks of maternity benefit, regardless of the child's age at adoption. - Biological mothers with fewer than two surviving children retain the higher 26-week entitlement; the 12-week ceiling for adoptive/commissioning mothers was not altered by the ruling. - Central government employees receive more generous adoption leave (180 days) under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules; the 12-week figure applies to private-sector and ESI-covered employees. - Employers must update HR policies, stop requiring proof that the adopted child is below three months, and pay maternity benefit from the date of handover. - The Supreme Court urged Parliament to legislate paternity leave as a social security right; no such statute exists yet for private-sector employees. - Dismissal of an adoptive mother during her 12-week maternity benefit period is unlawful under the Code on Social Security, 2020. [Start for ₹100](https://app.niyam.ai/register) and research the Hamsaanandini Nanduri ruling, maternity compliance questions, and HR policy drafting across the Code on Social Security, 2020, with every answer grounded in verified primary sources.