Bombay HC refuses permission to 17-year-old girl to abort pregnancy

The Bombay High Court's Aurangabad bench denied a 17-year-old girl's request for permission to terminate her 24-week pregnancy, stating that the pregnancy was the consequence of a consensual relationship and the baby would be born alive at this point.

A division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Y G Khobragade, in its order on July 26, noted the girl would turn 18 this month and that she was in a consensual relationship with the boy since December 2022. The bench in its order said the victim girl and the accused boy had developed physical relations several times. The girl herself brought a pregnancy kit and confirmed the pregnancy in February this year, it noted.

Therefore, it appears that the petitioner victim is not innocent and she was having full maturity of understanding. If the petitioner was not interested to carry the pregnancy she could have sought permission for termination soon after confirmation of the pregnancy, the HC said. The girl had filed the petition in the HC through her mother, seeking to terminate the pregnancy claiming she was a child within the meaning of provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, a court’s permission is required to terminate pregnancy beyond 20 weeks, if it is found the pregnancy poses a threat to the life or health of the mother or the child. The plea claimed the pregnancy would cause grave injury to the mental health of the petitioner who wishes to study to become a doctor in future.

If a baby is born alive even after forcible delivery considering the request of the mother to terminate the pregnancy then it would lead to an under-developed child with chances of deformities, the HC said. The bench said it was not inclined to permit termination of the pregnancy as in any case, the child is going to be born alive and the natural delivery is just 15 weeks away.