Patna: A government teacher in Bihar applied for maternity leave, despite being a male, and after it got sanctioned, enjoyed a week-long holiday.

The bizarre anomaly came to light when users of a portal, set up for government teachers applying for leave online, saved a screenshot and posted it on social media.

However, authorities claim it was a "technical error" which would be set right and there was nothing to smell a rat.

"It is a case of wrongful entry in the leave application format. The error is technical and will be rectified," said Archana Kumari, the education officer in charge of Mahua block in Vaishali district, where the teacher, Jitendra Kumar Singh, is posted.

She agreed that maternity leaves were granted only to women, but pointed out that "even males get 'pitritva avakash' (paternity leave) to look after their newborns".

"We will find out the details of this instance which has been brought to our notice," she said.

"Some teachers have complained of their earned leaves being deducted even though they had applied for casual leaves," she added.