ORDER :

BY THE COURT:

1. “Mother is she who can take place of all others, but whose place no one else can take.”

2. “The bond between mother and her child is special one. It remains unchanged by time or distance. It is the purest love-unconditional and true. It is understanding of any situation and forgiving any kind of mistakes….”

3. Motherhood is the mother of all civilizations. Family as a social institution is considered as the backbone of the society. No civilization could have passed without recognizing the power of mother and often figuratively projected her as Goddess. A child born to a family sees the world first through the eyes of his/her mother and develops his/her skills through the vision of the family.

4. The issues involved in this petition is “Whether any distinction can be made by the State Government to a natural mother, a biological mother and a mother who has begotten a child by surrogacy procedure? Whether a surrogate mother/commissioning mother can be deprived to get maternity leave? Whether denying maternity leave to surrogate mother amounts to violation of right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and Whether the right to life includes the righ