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The Delhi High Court has directed medical termination of pregnancy of a 15-year-old minor survivor of rape, whose pregnancy was approximately 30 weeks and 5 days advanced. Justice Madhu Jain passed the order on September 8, 2026, after considering the petitioner’s age, the circumstances in which the pregnancy occurred, its advanced gestational stage and her expressed desire for termination.
Background
The petitioner, identified in the order as Minor S through her guardian B, approached the High Court seeking permission for termination of her pregnancy. According to the petition, the alleged sexual assault occurred during the winter of 2025-26 in Almora, Uttarakhand.
The incident was reported to police on September 3, 2026, following which an FIR was registered at Tilak Marg Police Station under Sections 64(1) and 137(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
A Medical Board constituted at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Smt. S.K. Hospital examined the petitioner on September 7 and assessed the pregnancy at approximately 30 weeks and 5 days.
The Court noted that the pregnancy had crossed the ordinary statutory limit under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. However, it held that the statutory limit could not be considered in isolation while exercising constitutional jurisdiction.
The Court observed:
"Having regard to the aforesaid legal position and the peculiar facts of the present case, this Court is of the considered view that the statutory gestational limit under the MTP Act cannot, in the facts of the present case, operate as an absolute bar to the exercise of the constitutional jurisdiction of this Court. The Petitioner is a 15-year-old child, the pregnancy is alleged to have resulted from sexual assault, and she has expressed her desire for termination. The advanced gestational age, while requiring heightened medical caution, cannot by itself deprive the Petitioner of consideration of her right to bodily autonomy, dignity and reproductive choice. At the same time, any medical procedure must necessarily remain subject to an assessment of her physical fitness and medical feasibility and to all requisite safeguards."
Justice Jain emphasised that the petitioner was a 15-year-old child and that her bodily autonomy, dignity, reproductive choice and physical and mental well-being were relevant considerations. The Court also referred to the Supreme Court's approach that constitutional courts must give due importance to the welfare and reproductive autonomy of a minor mother-to-be.
The High Court directed Lady Hardinge Medical College and Smt. S.K. Hospital, New Delhi, to make arrangements for medical termination of the petitioner's pregnancy at the earliest, subject to her being found physically fit to undergo the procedure and compliance with all necessary medical precautions and safeguards. The procedure was to be conducted by competent doctors in accordance with the MTP Act, applicable Rules, regulations and medical guidelines.
The Court directed the Medical Board and hospital authorities to maintain a complete record of the procedure and preserve the tissue or foetal material, wherever medically feasible and legally permissible, for DNA identification and other purposes connected with the criminal case. The State was directed to bear all expenses relating to the termination, including the procedure, medicines, investigations, hospitalisation, food and other incidental medical requirements.
The Court further directed that if the child were born alive despite the procedure, the hospital must provide all reasonable and medically feasible medical care, while the Child Welfare Committee would take further steps in accordance with law. The petitioner's identity was ordered to remain strictly confidential, and the directions were to be complied with expeditiously considering the advanced gestational age. The petition was thereafter disposed of in the above terms, with pending applications, if any, also disposed of.
Case Title: Minor S Through Her Guardian B v. State Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Anr.
Case Number: W.P.(CRL) 2763/2026
Judge: Justice Madhu Jain
Decision Date: September 8, 2026
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