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The High Court (HC) has issued a rule upon the government bodies concerned to explain as to why a directive should not be given for the adoption of laws regarding paternity leave.
The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation on Tuesday.
The court also asked the respondents to submit a progress report regarding the issue in the court within three months.
While passing the order, the court noted that fathers have a parallel role in rearing children, which must be recognised and enabled by the legislation. This has the potential of having a significant progressive impact - both in the workplace and on broader society.
Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan and her six-month-old child Nubaid Bin Sadi filed the petition on July 3 that came for hearing on Tuesday.
Lawyer Ishrat Hasan herself appeared in the court hearing in support of the petition, while Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state.
The cabinet secretary, public administration secretary, law secretary and eight others have been made respondents in the rule.
According to the writ petition, "Role of a father for the care of a newborn is increasing day by day, and the perception that only a mother's role is important has been changed. Especially in a busy city like Dhaka, opportunities to seek help from other family members are limited."
"Apart from this, the cesarean birth rate is very high in the country. It takes a long time for a mother to recover after a cesarean. At that time, the newborns and mothers need intensive care. Lack of paternity leave makes it difficult for the new fathers to take care of their wives and newborns."
"More than 78 countries around the world have paternity leave provisions, including the neighbouring countries India, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka," it added.