Patna High Court Allows Termination Of Pregnancy Of A Minor Victim Of Sexual Abuse

"From a plain reading of the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, particularly, Section 3 of the Act, it appears that with the consent of pregnant woman or the guardian in case of minor, the pregnancy can be terminated by two registered Medical Practitioners, where the length of pregnancy does not exceed 24 weeks. The petitioner being the mother of the victim girl claims that the victim girl is a minor and she is ready and willing to give her written consent for termination of pregnancy."

The petition was filed by the father of the minor victim seeking directions to the State to facilitate the medical termination of pregnancy of the minor daughter of the as she was a victim of sexual abuse and is carrying the pregnancy of about 13 weeks. The petitioner's daughter is 16 years old. Allegedly she was kidnapped by the accused person namely, Ajay Kumar Pal and was kept under illegal confinement by the accused persons and after filing the habeas corpus petition by the petitioner his daughter was recovered. She was then medically examined and it was found out that she is pregnant on 11 March 2022.

Counsel for the petitioner referred to section 3 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and submitted that as per Section 3(b)(i)(ii) Explanation 2, the termination of pregnancy of the petitioner is permitted inasmuch as the minor, being a rape victim, is fulfilling the conditions specified under the Act.

He placed reliance on the judgement passed by Apex Court in the case of Suchita Srivastava and Another v. Chandigarh Administration where the court held that woman's right to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of "personal liberty" as understood under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the termination of a pregnancy is only permitted when the conditions specified in the applicable statute have been fulfilled.

The Counsel also informed the court that the minor is ready and willing to give her consent for termination of her pregnancy.

The Counsel for state did not argue against the termination of pregnancy.

The Court recorded that the age of pregnancy is within the stipulated parameters of Section 3(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the minor is ready to give her consent.

In view of the above, the Court allowed the application for termination.

Case Title : Miss K  v The State of Bihar

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Pat) 9

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