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Authored by Khushi Sharma (Intern at Legal Soch Foundation)
Meta description: The supreme court has allowed a 25 years old rape survivor to plea abortion after she conceive a child from raped under the false pretext of marriage. The high court of Gujrat earlier dismissed the plea for termination of pregnancy.
Keywords: The code of criminal procedure, article 226, 227 of the constitution Act, evidence Act, medical termination of pregnancy act 1971
Forcing women to give birth to a child conceived as a result of rape is against our constitutional philosophy. These pregnancies affect women's mental and physical health. Earlier, the High Court of Gujrat rejected the plea for abortion.
On Saturday, the Supreme Court held an urgent hearing for a 25-year-old rape survivor who is now 27 weeks and 3 days pregnant. The petitioner is an Adivasi woman from a small village in Gujrat. She was raped on the promise of marriage, and there was consensual sex.
She filed the writ petition under Article 226 and Article 227 of the Constitution, Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and Section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy.
When she was 26 weeks pregnant, the medical board found that she was physically fit for the termination process after the high court gave the order for the medical checkup.
On August 10, 2023, the medical board placed the medical report in front of the single judge bench of the Gujrat High Court. The medical report says the petitioner was fit for the undergone termination process, but justice Samir J. Dave rejected the plea for termination. The board took the medical report on record and adjourned the hearing until August 23.
After that, the Supreme Court took the charge and confronted the Gujarat High Court for rejecting the plea for the termination of pregnancy. The Supreme Court's decision is to allow for the abortion after a fresh medical examination of the rape survivor, as per the court, she was fit to undergo surgery.
The Supreme Court has also criticised the 12-day postponement of the hearing after knowing the urgency of the survivor plea.
On Saturday, the bench headed by Justice Nagarathna directed the secretary general whether the order had been uploaded to the petition and was disposed of by the high court. On August 17, the bench also ordered a fresh medial examination and submitted the report by Sunday, with the case adjourning until August 21.
Case detail: XYZ v. State of Gujrat
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