Maternity benefits cannot be claimed after the expiry of a contractual appointment when there is no employer-employee relationship, the Bombay High Court (HC) has held while denying relief to an assistant professor who sought maternity leave and benefits from a suburban college, news agency PTI reported.

A division bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe, in an order passed on Monday, observed that entitlement to maternity benefits must be examined within the framework of the law and the terms governing the employment of the woman seeking the benefit.