Bombay High Court Denies Relief To Woman Seeking Abortion On Ground That Her Husband Concealed Previous Marriage

The Bombay High Court recently denied permission to terminate the pregnancy of a 33-year-old married woman, who sought the leave on the ground that her husband had concealed his earlier marriage from her.

A division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Ashish Chavan noted that the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act does not allow a woman to terminate pregnancy on the grounds of her husband concealing an earlier marriage.

"The solitary submission of the Petitioner is that the mental trauma suffered by her on account of the deception practiced by her husband, arising out of the alleged discovery of the fraud played by him is grave enough to attract the provisions of the MTP Act, 1971. The Petitioner has neither pleaded nor contended that there is any judicial finding as to the allegations of fraud alleged by her. Thus, the contentions of the Petitioner are in the realm of allegations. It is not the case of the Petitioner that her foetus suffers from any abnormalities which would involve a risk to her life. Even otherwise, Section 3 of the MTP Act, 1971 r/w Rule 3-B does not contemplate a situation/category which renders the Petitioner eligible for termination of pregnancy under the MTP Act, 1971," the judges observed.

In its October 6 order, the bench said that it is a trite law that relief cannot exceed the four corners of the statute.

"Although, we empathise with the predicament of the Petitioner, unfortunately, in the facts of the present case, we see no legal relief for her under the provisions of the MTP Act, 1971. In these circumstances, therefore, we reject the prayers of the Petitioner. Writ Petition is dismissed," the judges observed.

According to the petition, the woman married on February 16, 2025. However, in the last week of July this year, when she underwent sonography, she learnt that she is 13 weeks pregnant. She however, did not want to continue with the pregnancy as just a few months ago, she had learnt that her husband had concealed his marriage with another woman, which was much before their own marriage.

The petitioner, therefore, urged the bench to permit her to abort her pregnancy as she did not wish to further continue with the same. She contended that continuing the pregnancy would affect her mental health and also result in trauma.

Appearance:

Advocate Narayan LP Mishra appeared for the Petitioner.

Additional Government Pleader Monali Thakur represented the State.

Advocates Rammani Upadhyay and Rajeev Shukla represented the Husband.