Delhi HC upholds criminal proceedings against doctor over abortion of minor

New Delhi ,August 7: The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with criminal proceedings against a doctor accused of illegally terminating the six-week pregnancy of a 16-year-old girl without verifying her age or informing the authorities as required under law.

 

 

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, a minor cannot independently consent to the termination of pregnancy. Written consent from her guardian is required before such a procedure can be carried out.

 

The court also questioned the doctor’s claim that the girl’s age was recorded as 20 at the time of the abortion. The court emphasised that when the patient’s age is legally significant, a registered medical practitioner cannot simply rely on the verbal statement of an accompanying adult.

 

The court observed that the statutory framework requires the patient’s age to be properly ascertained and recorded rather than accepted solely on the basis of an unverified oral claim.

 

According to the investigation, the woman who accompanied the girl was not actually related to her, despite allegedly presenting herself as the girl’s aunt. The court said this further underlined the doctor’s responsibility to verify the minor’s age through documentary evidence before performing the procedure.

 

 

The case arose from an incident in July 2019, when the 16-year-old was taken to a hospital for termination of her six-week pregnancy. In her statement, the survivor alleged that the woman accompanying her told hospital staff that she was her aunt and claimed that the pregnancy was from the girl’s boyfriend. The woman allegedly told hospital authorities that the girl was 20 years old.

 

The woman who allegedly accompanied the girl is also an accused in the case.

 

The High Court was hearing an appeal against a September 2020 order of the trial court, which had directed further investigation into the matter. The High Court’s observations came while considering whether the criminal proceedings against the doctor should continue.

 

The court made it clear that doctors carrying out procedures governed by the MTP Act have a legal responsibility to comply with the safeguards prescribed under the law, particularly when the patient is a minor.