
Aggrieved by the PGIMER administration denying her right, she first moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) at its Chandigarh bench, then moved the High Court to no avail. Both the institutes noted that Singh became a mother of two owing to her marriage to Amir/Amar Singh, and that “as such, any child born to her now can only be her third child,” justifying disentitlement of her maternity leave grant.
When the appellant (Singh) moved the apex court, the court had favourable findings to share. In Deepika Singh v. Central Administrative Tribunal and Others, an order by the apex court’s bench constituting Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna observes that “family relationships may take the form of domestic, unmarried partnerships or queer relationships.
The order also cited a “‘time-use’ survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), [which finds that] women in India currently spend up to 352 minutes per day on unpaid work [including childcare], 577% more than the time spent by men.”
It is particularly celebratory as the case of recognition of same-sex marriage is yet to be heard. It’s indeed a ray of hope for many, as the Supreme Court from time to time has been offering some signs of constitutional validity in a variety of ways in which queer people call themselves a unit and seek protection from the law.