On Wednesday, the Madras High Court in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, ruled that the state government's order limiting maternity leave for third pregnancies to 12 weeks is unjustifiable and discriminatory. The bench, comprising Justices R. Suresh Kumar and N. Senthilkumar, highlighted that the needs for pre-delivery and post-delivery care are the same for all pregnancies, and thus, the government cannot impose such restrictions. This ruling was prompted by a plea from Shayee Nisha, who challenged the rejection of her maternity leave application by the Principal District Judge in Villupuram. The court stated that this deviation from the government's consistent policy on women's welfare contradicts both the Supreme Court's directives and the state's own policies. Consequently, the court ordered the Principal District Judge to reconsider Nisha's application and grant maternity leave equivalent to that of first and second pregnancies, disregarding the earlier government order issued on March 13.