New Delhi, April 30 (IANS). The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on a contempt petition. In this petition, it has been alleged that its previous order allowing medical termination of pregnancy of a 15-year-old minor has not been followed. The court has warned that if its directions are not implemented, contempt charges can be framed.
Justice B.V. A bench of Justices Nagarathna and Ujjwal Bhuyan, hearing the contempt petition filed by the minor’s mother, directed the Union Health Secretary and the Director of AIIMS, New Delhi to appear before them through video conferencing on May 4.
The bench led by Justice Nagarathna remarked, “If they do not comply with our order by Monday, let them be prepared for further directions in contempt proceedings. We are not concerned with anything else except that the order of this court is complied with. If they do not comply by Monday, we will frame charges. We will hear them before framing charges.”
In its April 24 judgment, the Supreme Court had set aside the Delhi High Court’s decision to deny permission for termination of a 28-week pregnancy and said the reproductive autonomy of a minor girl should be given the ‘utmost importance’.
The Supreme Court said, “No court should compel any woman, and especially any minor girl, to continue her pregnancy to full term against her express wishes.” The court also added that any such pressure would be a violation of decision-making autonomy and would cause ‘severe mental, emotional and physical trauma’.
The court further ruled that in cases of unintended pregnancy, constitutional courts must weigh the welfare of the pregnant woman rather than giving priority to the unborn child, noting that ‘what is relevant is the choice of the pregnant woman, not the interest of the unborn child.’
The bench recorded that the girl, herself a minor, had allegedly tried to commit suicide twice after discovering the pregnancy, and said forcing her to continue with the pregnancy would amount to a ‘direct attack on her right to live with dignity’.
After this, the court directed that the process of termination of pregnancy should be completed in AIIMS as soon as possible and with all necessary medical safety measures.
Subsequently, AIIMS challenged this decision through a review petition, which was rejected in very strong terms by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Dismissing the petition, the bench said, “It is strange that the review petitioner, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is not willing to comply with the order of the Supreme Court, and instead, is challenging the order of this Court dated 24.04.2026, so as to take away the constitutional rights of the minor daughter of the herein petitioner.”
Earlier in the day, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also refused to hear AIIMS’s curative petition against the abortion order. The CJI-led bench stressed that “unwanted pregnancy cannot be imposed on any person and no minor girl can be forced to conceive.”
The bench also urged the Center to reconsider the ‘Medical Termination of Pregnancy’ law so that restrictions related to the period of pregnancy can be removed. “Please amend your law… so that when pregnancy occurs due to rape etc., there is no time limit. The law should be flexible and keep pace with changing times,” the bench remarked.
–IANS
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