Supreme Court Strikes Down Age Cap on Adoptive Mothers’ Maternity Benefit

On 17 March 2026, the Supreme Court in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India, 2026 INSC 246, struck down the three-month age condition in Section 60(4) of the Code on Social Security that limited maternity benefit for commissioning and adoptive mothers. The Court held that the distinction violated Articles 14 and 21 and read the provision so that a woman who legally adopts a child is entitled to twelve weeks of maternity benefit irrespective of the child’s age at adoption. The judgment expanded the constitutional treatment of caregiving, adoption and workplace maternity protection beyond the earlier statutory age threshold.