Delhi HC seeks clarity in medical reports for abortions beyond 24 weeks

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued directions while hearing a minor rape survivor’s plea, flagging vague medical opinions and procedural lapses by CWC and IOs.

The Delhi High Court has directed medical boards assessing requests for termination of pregnancy beyond 24 weeks to submit clear and specific reports detailing the exact gestational age, the victim’s physical and mental fitness to undergo the procedure, and whether termination would pose any risk to the victim’s life.

The ruling arose from a 14-year-old’s 28-week pregnancy case, where consent existed but medical assessment and CWC handling caused delays, the court noted. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A bench of justice, Swarana Kanta Sharma, in a December 15 ruling released on Saturday, said courts cannot rely on vague or qualified medical opinions while deciding such sensitive matters. “It is essential that the doctors concerned… give a clear and specific opinion, and not a vague or qualified opinion capable of being interpreted in more than one manner,” the court said, noting that judicial authorities must necessarily depend on expert medical assessments to make informed decisions.

In her 25-page verdict, the judge also issued directions to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), mandating that investigating officers be provided complete physical copies of CWC orders in cases involving minor victims of sexual assault where termination of pregnancy is in question. The court further directed that “a legible scanned/electronic copy of the entire order is simultaneously transmitted to the IO through electronic means” to avoid delays or ambiguity in compliance.

The ruling came while hearing a petition filed in August by a 14-year-old minor rape survivor seeking termination of her 28-week pregnancy. The victim was raped by her cousin brother, who was also a minor and the son of her father’s sister.

The court noted that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is ordinarily permitted up to 20 weeks and beyond 24 weeks only in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities or where continuation poses a grave risk to the woman’s health.

In the present case, although an FIR was registered on August 8 and the girl underwent a medical examination at AIIMS, she was produced before the CWC three days later. Despite knowing that the pregnancy had crossed 24 weeks, that the child was unwilling to continue with the pregnancy, and that written consent had been provided by both the minor and her guardian, the CWC merely directed the investigating officer to approach the court, without first directing medical assessment.

The court also recorded that on August 22, the victim individually expressed her desire to give birth to the child and thereafter live with her father’s sister while staying at Nirmal Chhaya until delivery.

Counsel for the victim and the state flagged lapses, arguing that medical board reports were vague and failed to assess physical and mental fitness or weigh the risks of termination versus continuation. They also highlighted a lack of sensitisation among IOs and CWC members and delays caused by CWCs remaining closed on weekends and holidays.

While refraining from issuing binding directions on CWC working days, the judge said she expected the Committee to evolve internal mechanisms to address urgent cases involving minor rape victims without avoidable delay.