Madras high court backs pregnant police aspirant

Chennai: Coming to the rescue of a woman, who was unsuccessful in physical efficiency test since she had completed the running event by half second extra than the prescribed time due to her eight weeks pregnancy, the Madras high court has directed the authorities to select her for employment as Grade II Police Constable/Grade-II Jail Warden as on October 31, 2018, with all attendant benefit within 4 weeks.

Justice S.Vimala who gave the directive said, "The pregnancy and the child birth should not be considered as the impediment for discharge of duty. The concessions given to pregnant women shall not be construed as a concession towards personal comfort of the women. The child birth should be considered as a contribution to continuity of generations, without which the existence of the world is impossible".

Disposing of a petition from R.Devika, Justice Vimala (since retired) said if further intensive physical training is required as per rules of the recruitment it shall be postponed till the maternity leave of the petitioner is over.

The judge said the provisions of the Constitution and the decisions of the various courts clearly show that effective equality and elimination of general bias require special treatment to women who were facing special needs of that time. The treatment meted out to those of them by declining even the normal protection was highly objectionable, the judge added.The judge said coming back to the facts of the case on hand, the participation by the petitioner in a running test itself was a sign of courage, as persons similarly placed would be afraid of because of fear of losing the child through abortion.

This aspect, though not a factor to be considered in the running test, it was the overall factor to be considered for selection to the post of the constable. In the early stages of pregnancy, the doctors always advice bed rest initially, at least for a period of 3 months. Taking 0.30 seconds extra should have been considered negligible under the given context as well as under the International standards prescribed for evaluation.