Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud made pointed remarks while hearing a woman’s request to end a 26-week pregnancy, inquiring as to if the petitioner desired permission to kill the child through a court order.
The Supreme Court has asked the woman’s counsel and the centre’s lawyer to talk with her before the next hearing tomorrow.
The married woman’s request for permission to terminate her 26-week pregnancy is being heard by a three-judge panel chaired by India’s Chief Justice. The woman, a mother of two, claims to be depressed and is ill-equipped to care for a third child, both emotionally and financially.
The court had given her the go-ahead to carry the baby on October 9. The centre then asked for the recall of the order, citing a panel of AIIMS Delhi doctors who had advised against the abortion. A two-judge panel made up of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice BV Nagarathna delivered a divided decision in the case yesterday. The bench led by the Chief Justice of India then began debating the issue yesterday.
Questioning why the woman did not seek permission for abortion earlier, the Chief Justice asked, “What was she doing for 26 weeks? She already has two children? Why come now?”
“Do we issue an order for the child’s death through a judicial ruling?” he added.
Appearing for the center, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati cited the doctors’ report that says the situation is very delicate and sensitive. “The child is ready to be born. It won’t be right to abort because the foetus shows signs of life. The order to abort must be recalled,” she said.
According to the Centre’s lawyer, the petitioner’s counsel referenced a court judgement in a rape survivor’s application for abortion permission.
The kid was not involved in the dispute, the Chief Justice of India emphasised. “We have to look into the rights of the unborn child,” he stated.
According to the Supreme Court, allowing the child to be born and having the government take care of it afterwards is one possibility. It asked the woman if she could wait a few weeks before having a normal birth. The court emphasised that a hurried delivery at this point could result in the foetus having abnormalities. The Chief Justice said, “No one will want to adopt if the child is born with defects now.
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Source: NDTV
