HC to state: Issue guidelines to protect privacy of adolescent girls seeking abortion

The Bombay High Court has ordered Maharashtra to create privacy guidelines for adolescents seeking abortion, addressing police overreach in reporting.

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to draft and notify within three weeks guidelines for protecting the privacy of adolescents who approach registered medical practitioners to terminate their unwanted pregnancies.

Mumbai, India - Aug. 28, 2015 : Bombay High Court : ( Photo by Bhushan Koyande )

A division bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil passed the order after hearing a petition filed by a few doctors, including city-based gynaecologist Dr Nikhil Datar. The doctors had approached the high court complaining that the police overstep their authority and demand the names of adolescent girls who approach them for the medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) following consensual relationships.

Datar argued that the current “straitjacket formula” under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012, leads to hardships in cases involving consensual relationships between adolescents. He suggested a set of measures that could help medical practitioners navigate their dual obligation—protecting patient confidentiality while complying with mandatory reporting to police under section 19 of the Pocso Act.

Datar, in an affidavit to the court, suggested introducing a “cool-off period” for setting criminal law in motion whenever adolescents aged 15-18 explicitly state that they had consensual sexual relations with their respective partners of a similar age. He proposed restricting this exception to cases where the age gap is within five years and parents or guardians also consent to no police action. The exception should not extend to cases involving adults in positions of trust or authority, such as teachers or relatives, he added.

To safeguard both patients and doctors, Dr Datar proposed that registered medical practitioners should obtain written consent from guardians when they decide not to report the matter to the police or preserve medical evidence, and a standard template should be issued by the state government, which could help streamline this process. He also sought clarity on who may qualify as a guardian in such cases and whether minors could provide valid consent in the absence of guardians.

As an additional safeguard, Dr Datar suggested a “third-party authentication” mechanism to ensure that decisions to withhold reporting are made voluntarily and without coercion. This could involve guardians filing a notarised affidavit, confirmation by a civil surgeon, or even certification by the police if the case clearly falls within the “cool-off period” category.

While emphasising that mandatory reporting to police under section 19 of the Pocso Act should continue, Dr Datar urged that such reports be anonymised. He proposed that registered medical practitioners submit reports to a designated government channel without divulging personal details through email, phone, or written communication. The police, in turn, would maintain such data only for statistical purposes, without initiating criminal proceedings in these specific circumstances, he added.

The Bombay High Court has previously slammed the police for forcing doctors to reveal the identity of adolescent girls seeking MTP, despite a Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that such disclosure is not mandatory.