Special Saturday Hearing: SC Expresses Concern Over Delay in Rape Victim’s Abortion Plea by Gujarat HC

The Supreme Court on Saturday held a special sitting to urgently hear a plea of a rape victim who is approaching the 28th week of her pregnancy and seeking termination.

The woman moved the Supreme Court after the Gujarat High Court denied her relief.

Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan comprised the bench that convened the special session at 10:30 AM.

Representing the petitioner, lawyer Shashank Singh conveyed that the medical board endorsed pregnancy termination; however, the High Court dismissed the abortion plea.

The counsel informed the bench that the writ petition was submitted to the High Court on August 7, and the Court took it up on August 8, subsequently instructing the formation of a medical board to assess the pregnancy status. On August 10, the board’s report was provided. On August 11, the Court acknowledged the report and scheduled the next hearing for August 23.

Expressing astonishment, the Apex Court criticized the High Court for postponing the case for 12 days. Justice Nagarathna, perturbed, remarked, “How can the court stand it over to 23rd August? How many valuable days would have been lost by then!”

The bench articulated its discontent in the order, stating, “Strangely, the High Court posted the case 12 days thereafter on 23.08.2023, losing sight of the fact that every day’s delay was crucial and of great significance having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case. In the instant case, when the petitioner had approached the Court, she was already 26 weeks pregnant. Therefore, we find that valuable time has been lost between 11.08.2023, when the report was placed before the High Court and the order stating that the matter will stand over to 23.08.2023”.

The counsel further conveyed that the case was listed before the High Court on August 17, leading to its dismissal, although the order of dismissal hasn’t been uploaded yet. In light of this, the Supreme Court directed the Secretary General to verify with the Gujarat High Court Registry whether the order has been uploaded.

“We will wait for the order. How can we proceed without the order?” Justice Nagarathna expressed frustration. “In such cases, there should be a sense of urgency. Not a lackadaisical attitude treating it as a normal matter! We are sorry to make these remarks,” Justice Nagarathna added.

The bench ordered a fresh medical examination of the petitioner and instructed her to appear at the hospital for reexamination today. The hospital’s report must be presented to the Supreme Court by tomorrow. The bench will reconvene on Monday to further deliberate on the matter as the top item on the agenda. Advocate Swati Ghildiyal accepted the notice on behalf of the State of Gujarat.