“Court can only iron out the creases but while doing so, it must not alter the fabric, of which an Act is woven”
Madhya Pradesh High Court: The instant petition was contemplated by S.K. Awasthi, J., in which the petitioner who was the father of the rape victim sought termination of pregnancy for his 14 years old daughter.
The unfortunate facts were that a girl about 14 years old was raped and because of the alleged crime, she got pregnant. The girl was 22 weeks pregnant and as per the reports she was fit for termination of pregnancy.
The Hospital in its report submitted that pre-anesthetic & medical checkup and opinion of consultant Anesthesia and Medicine, Psychiatry was required in case if the medical method of termination failed and surgical intervention was required, however, the case was suitable for termination of pregnancy under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
The counsel for the petitioner Amit Dubey submitted that the report by the competent hospital reflected that abortion could have been carried out with the permission of the Court. The relevant statutory provisions i.e. Sections 3 and 5(1) of Act, 1971, stated when pregnancies were to be terminated and one of the clauses was, ‘where the length of the pregnancy exceeds twelve weeks but does not exceed twenty weeks, if not less than two registered medical practitioners are of opinion, formed in good faith that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or of grave injury physical or mental health’; as the girl was very young the counsel argued that the pregnancy might ruin her mental health and there was a risk to the life of the girl. It was further contended that the Act of 1971, also provided for an explanation clause i.e., ‘Where any, pregnancy is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape, the anguish caused by such pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman.’
The counsel relied on Murugan Nayakkar v. Union of India, 2017 SCC OnLine SC 1902, where the Supreme Court granted termination of pregnancy to a 13-year-old girl who was a victim of rape and sexual abuse, the Supreme Court had held that, “Considering the age of the petitioner, the trauma she has suffered because of the sexual abuse and the agony she is going through at present and above all the report of the Medical Board constituted by this Court, we think it appropriate that termination of pregnancy should be allowed.”
The Court observed that while interpreting the provisions of Section 5 of the Act of 1971, it was to be borne in mind that principle that the section must be construed as a whole whether or not one part was a saving clause and similarly elementary rule of construction of section was made of all the parts together and that it was not permissible to omit any part of it; the whole section must be read together. Hence, the termination was granted on the said grounds.[Ritika Prajapat v. State of M.P, 2019 SCC OnLine MP 1687, decided on 18-07-2019]
