The expert of the act is as follows:
3.2[(1) Subject to the provisions of the Act, every woman who has actually worked in an establishment of the employer from whom she claims maternity benefit for a period of not less than eighty days, including the days during which she was laid off, shall be entitled to, and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity benefit at the rate of her average daily wages, or the minimum rate of wage fixed or revised under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, or ten rupees a day, whichever is highest, for the period of her actual absence not exceeding nine weeks immediately preceding the day of delivery and the remaining period immediately following that day:'
The leave should be granted if worked for 80 days. If worked 9 months prior to the notice, she is eligible for maternity benift also. You can not deny the leave.