Himachal Pradesh High Court holds a commissioning mother entitled to maternity leave on par with other women employees
8 October 2026
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a female State government employee who becomes a commissioning mother or a surrogate mother is entitled to maternity leave on par with any other female government servant.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Ajay Mohan Goel in Dr. Juhi Manhas v. State of H.P. and others, CWP No. 14883 of 2025, with the neutral citation 2026:HHC:32083.
The petitioner had become a commissioning mother of two children through surrogacy and had been denied leave.
The Court quashed the departmental communications denying the leave and said the denial was completely unsustainable in law.
It directed that 180 days following the birth of each child be treated as maternity leave, that withheld salary be released, and that the exercise be completed within two months.
The State had argued that it had not adopted the Department of Personnel and Training notification dated 18 June 2024 that expressly covers surrogate and commissioning mothers.
The Court held that an earlier Division Bench ruling bound the State, so separate adoption of the 2024 notification was unnecessary.
In plain words
Commissioning mother Commissioning mother — The woman who commissions a surrogacy arrangement and becomes the legal mother of the child.
DoPT Department of Personnel and Training — The central department that frames service rules, including the CCS (Leave) Rules, for government employees.