MINOR S THR. FATHER B vs STATE GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND ANR.

Judgment text excerpt

$~77 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Date of decision: 17.04.2025 + W.P. (CRL) 1231/2025 & CRL.M.A. 11665/2025 MINOR S (THR. FATHER B) .....Petitioner Through: Mr. Anwesh Madhukar (DHCLSC) alongwith Ms. Prachi Nirwan, Advocate versus STATE & ANR. .....Respondents Through: Ms. Rupali Bandhopadhya, ASC (Criminal) with Mr. Abhijeet Kumar Advocate CORAM: HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE SWARANA KANTA SHARMA JUDGMENT DR. SWARANA KANTA SHARMA, J. 1. The Court is once again faced with another unfortunate and distressing case of a 15-year-old child, a victim of rape, who – by way of this writ petition – seeks permission for the medical termination of a pregnancy exceeding 27 weeks. 2. Intervention of this Court has been sought for termination of her pregnancy since the current gestational age of the foetus is beyond the permissible limits as prescribed under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (as amended by the MTP Signature Not Verified W.P.(CRL.) 1231/2025 Page 1 of 19 Digitally Signed By:ZEENAT PRAVEEN Signing Date:17.04.2025 20:43:31 Amendment Act, 2021) [hereafter „MTP Act‟], i.e. beyond 24 weeks. 3. While at the time the case was taken up in the pre-lunch session, the report from the Medical Board – as envisaged under Section 3 of MTP Act – was awaited. The matter was kept after lunch so that the report can be received from the Medical Board and appropriate orders may be passed. 4. A copy of the report has been placed before this Court at about 3:00 PM which mentions that the victim „S‟ and her mother have given their consent to terminate the pregnancy and the relevant portion is extracted as under: “NEONATOLOGY OPINION The current gestational age of the fetus is beyond the viability and there is strong possibility that the fetus will be alive after procedure a