Agartala: The Tripura high court on Saturday directed the state govt to genuinely assess the necessity of each request before granting child care leaves (CCL) to employers, stating that such leaves were not unconditional legal right.The court made the observation while granting 365 days of child care leaves to a female teacher.Justice Biswajit Palit directed the school education department to grant CCL to Tapasi Roy, a postgraduate mathematics teacher at a grant-in-aid school in Agartala, from January 16, 2026, to January 15, 2027, under Rule 39(C) of the Tripura state civil service (Leave) Rules, 1986.Roy told the court that her only child, a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, JNU, New Delhi, was to move from Class IX to Class X in April 2026 and appear for board examination in 2027.Her counsel submitted that the child required stable schooling, tutoring and emotional support during the crucial period. Roy’s husband, who works with the ministry of home affairs and is frequently transferred, was often unavailable to provide care, the court was informed.Roy had made several requests for CCL to the school headmistress but received only vague responses expressing regret from the school secretary. In September 2025, she submitted a detailed application to the director of secondary education, seeking CCL and permission to leave the station from January 16, 2026, to January 15, 2027, citing her child’s educational welfare.The court held that Roy’s request had not been properly evaluated or rejected for valid reasons. It also observed that executive guidelines may supplement a statutory rule but cannot replace it.
