SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Excessive Court docket has dominated that authorised depart, together with maternity depart, shouldn’t be thought-about a break in service.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar delivered these observations in response to a case involving six feminine banking associates who had been denied promotion resulting from excluding maternity depart from their whole service.
The petitioners, employed as banking associates within the J&Okay Financial institution for seven years, encountered promotion hurdles because the financial institution deducted their maternity depart interval from the general service calculation. This determination rendered them ineligible for promotion, which requires seven years of normal service underneath the “Seniority-cum-Selectivity Channel.”
Jahangir Iqbal Ganaie, representing the petitioners, argued that maternity depart is sanctioned and shouldn’t be seen as a break in service. Excluding maternity depart from service, the calculation was deemed discriminatory towards girls workers, violating constitutional articles.
In defence, advocate Adil Asmi, representing J&Okay Financial institution, claimed that maternity depart, whereas sanctioned, doesn’t represent lively service, and the promotion coverage requires seven years of “precise common service.”
Justice Kumar rejected the financial institution’s stance, emphasising that any worker on sanctioned depart, together with maternity depart, is deemed to be in service. He labelled the exclusion of maternity depart as “arbitrary, discriminatory, and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Structure.”
The court docket directed J&Okay Financial institution to recognise maternity depart as common service, making the petitioners eligible for promotion to the JMGS Scale-I Officers Cadre underneath the seniority-cum-selectivity channel.
This ruling establishes a precedent for the popularity of maternity depart as an lively service, selling equality in employment alternatives for ladies.
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