The Madras High Court has ruled that maternity leave taken by Dr. E. Krithikaa while serving under a mandatory two-year bond is to be counted as part of that bond period. The bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and K. Rajasekar emphasized that maternity leave is a fundamental right under Article 21, supported by Articles 14 and 21, and granted parity with regular government service rules—obligating the state to treat her maternity leave as service. As a result, authorities have been ordered to release her original academic certificates within four weeks .

Dr. Krithikaa completed her MS in General Surgery, signed a ₹40 lakh bond to serve Tamil Nadu government hospitals for two years, and began posting at the Thittakudi Government Hospital in 2019.

After serving one year, she availed a 12-month maternity leave, which the state initially refused to count toward her bond, withholding her original certificates.

A single bench dismissed her petition in 2022, but the division bench in 2025 overturned that, affirming that contractual obligations cannot override maternity benefits derived from the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

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