The Punjab and Haryana High Court allowed the termination of the pregnancy of a rape victim and observed that wherein a pregnancy has been caused by rape, the anguish caused by the pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman, the same may be terminated,
Brief Facts:
The petitioner, a twenty-six-year-old rape victim filed a writ petition seeking directions to the respondents to get her pregnancy terminated, which she acquired due to rape having been committed upon her termination.
Contentions of the Applicant:
The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the writ petition deserves to be allowed and a direction deserves to be issued to the respondents to get the pregnancy of the petitioner terminated in view of Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the status report filed by the respondents coupled with the report of the Board of Doctors. Reliance was placed upon M vs. State of Haryana and Ors. in support of the arguments.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing for the state referred to the status report which was a reiteration of the facts.
Observations of the Court:
The court observed Section 3 of the MTP Act shows that where the length of the pregnancy does not exceed twenty weeks and the continuance of such a pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury to her physical or mental health and further wherein a pregnancy has been caused by rape, the anguish caused by the pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman, the same may be terminated and the present case was thus covered by this provision.
The court referred to the judgement in M vs. State of Haryana which dealt with the rape survivor who had sought directions for termination of pregnancy which was beyond twenty weeks. It was held in the case that if there was no risk to the life of the petitioner in carrying out the termination of pregnancy, then immediate arrangements should be made for the same.
The court directed the respondent to make immediate arrangements for the medical termination of the pregnancy of the petitioner in accordance with the provisions of the MTP Act.
The decision of the Court:
The court allowed the petition and issued directions to the state to not cause any delay and ensure that there is no risk to the life of the petitioner.
Case Title: N vs. State of Haryana
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Vikram Aggarwal
Case No.: CWP-13409-2023
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. Manu Sachdeva and Mr. Abhimanyu Singh
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Pardeep Prakash Chandar, Senior DAG, Haryana
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
