Agartala: The Tripura High Court held that Child Care Leave (CCL) for female govt employees was not an unconditional legal right, but authorities had to genuinely assess the necessity behind each request and not reject it without valid reasons.Justice Biswajit Palit directed the state to grant 365 days’ CCL to Tapasi Roy, a PG mathematics teacher at a grant-in-aid school in Agartala, after finding her application request had not been properly evaluated or rejected for valid reasons. The court ordered the school education department to sanction CCL from Jan 16, 2026, to Jan 15, 2027, under Rule 39(C) of the Tripura State Civil Service (Leave) Rules, 1986.Roy said her only child, studying at Kendriya Vidyalaya, JNU, New Delhi, would move from Class IX to X in April 2026 and face board exams in 2027, requiring academic and emotional support. Her husband’s Ministry of Home Affairs posting involved frequent transfers.After multiple requests for CCL to the Headmistress and vague replies, she submitted a comprehensive application to the Director of Secondary Education. It also went unanswered. She then approached the high court. The court said while executive guidelines could support a statutory rule, they could not take its place.
