Supreme Court: All Women Entitled To Safe & Legal Abortion, Distinction Between Married & Unmarried Women Unconstitutional

 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 - All women are entitled to safe and legal abortions (Para 56) - There is no rationale in excluding unmarried women from the ambit of Rule 3B of MTP Rules which mentions the categories of women who can seek abortion of pregnancy in the term 20-24 weeks. (Para 121)

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003 - Rule 3B (categories of women who can seek abortion of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks) - A narrow interpretation of Rule 3B, limited only to married women, would render the provision discriminatory towards unmarried women and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. Prohibiting unmarried or single pregnant women (whose pregnancies are between twenty and twenty-four weeks) from accessing abortion while allowing married women to access them during the same period would fall foul of the spirit guiding Article 140 - Purposive interpretation given to Rule 3B to include unmarried women whose pregnancy arise out of consensual relationship. (Para 121)

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 - Section 3(2)(b) - Termination of a pregnancy till twenty-four weeks of women if it causes risk of injury to the mental health – unwanted pregnancy can be construed as injury to mental health. (Para 62, 63, 64)

Marital Rape - Rape includes ‘marital rape’ for the purpose of MTP Rules - Rule 3B(a) -Survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest shall be considered eligible for termination of pregnancy up to twenty-four weeks – Supreme Court holds that meaning of rape must be understood as including marital rape, solely for the purposes of the MTP Act – Woman need not seek recourse to formal legal proceedings to prove sexual assault, rape or incest. (Para 70, 75, 76)

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003 - Rule 3B(b) - Rule 3B(b) includes minors within the category of women who may terminate their pregnancy up to twenty-four weeks – the RMP need not disclose the identity and other personal details of the minor in the information provided under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act. (Para 81)

Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003; Rule 3B(c) -Women going through a change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy shall be considered eligible for termination of pregnancy – distinction between married and single women is not constitutionally sustainable – benefits in law extend equally to both single and married women. (Para 90, 92)

Marital Rape - Exception 2 to Section 375 of IPC - Exception 2 states that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife is not rape, unless she is below 15 years of age – Supreme Court leaves the constitutional validity of marital rape to be decided in appropriate proceedings but states that for the purpose of MTP Act, meaning of rape includes marital rape. (Para 74, 75, 115)

Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012; Section 19(1) - When a minor approaches a Registered Medical Practitioner for a medical termination of pregnancy arising out of a consensual sexual activity, an RMP is obliged to provide information to concerned authorities – Supreme Court states that the RMP need not disclose the identity and other personal details of the minor in the information. (Para 79, 80, 81)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA 

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

 Civil Appeal No 5802 of 2022 (Arising out of SLP (C) No 12612 of 2022) 

X versus The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Anr.

DR. DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD; J., A S BOPANNA; J., J.B. PARDIWALA; J. 

Author: Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, J

Dated: September 29, 2022 

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Questions and answers on law (Part 80)

Q 1:-  Which is article of constitution under which  judgement of High court binding?

Ans:- Judgments of a High Court are binding on all subordinate courts and tribunals within its jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution, which grants the High Court power of superintendence. While Article 141 makes Supreme Court rulings binding nationwide, High Court decisions are binding precedents within their respective states. 

Key Details on Binding Nature of High Court Judgments:

• Jurisdictional Scope: A High Court's decision is binding on subordinate courts/tribunals within its jurisdiction (i.e., within that state).

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Important Judgments on Pocso Act

 

1) Important Supreme Court and Bombay HC Judgments on POSCO Act (Part 1)

https://www.lawweb.in/2023/03/important-judgments-on-posco-act.html

2) Important Supreme Court and Bombay HC Judgments on POSCO Act (Part 2)

https://www.lawweb.in/2024/05/important-supreme-court-and-bombay-hc.html

3) Important judgments on grant of bail by Pocso court

https://www.lawweb.in/2024/05/important-judgments-on-grant-of-bail-by.html

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‘POCSO Act is gender neutral’; Karnataka High Court refuses to quash sexual assault case against Woman.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS:

Ø The Act, being a progressive enactment, is intended to safeguard the sanctity of childhood. It is rooted in gendral neutrality with its beneficient object being the protection of all children, irrespective of sex. The Act is thus, gender neutral.

Ø Sections 3 and 5 which form the foundation for offences under Sections 4 and 6 of the Act, delineate various forms of assault. Although certain provisions may employ gendered pronouns, the preamble and purpose of the Act, render such usage inclusive. Therefore, it is inclusive of both male and female.

Ø The ingredients of Section 4 of the Act dealing with penetrative sexual assault are equally applicable to both men and women. The language of the provision clearly indicates inclusivity.

Ø The ingredients of the offences, the ones punishable under Sections 4 and 6 of the Act, are clearly met in the case at hand.

Ø Delay in registration of the crime, in the case at hand, cannot become the reason for quashment of the proceedings, owing to the alleged offence and the age of the victim.

Ø The submissions of psychological impossibility and absence of potency testing, fall flat in the light of modern jurisprudence, noted hereinabove.

Ø The submission that psychological trauma cannot result in an erection would tumble down, in the light of several studies, that psychological trauma does not always prelude physiological or biological reactions, especially ones of coercion and fear.

Ø The submission that, in an intercourse the woman is only a passive participant and a man is an active participant is noted only to be emphatically rejected, as the thought itself is archaic. The jurisprudence of the present times embraces the livid realities of victims and does not allow stereotypes to cloud legal scrutiny.

 In the High Court of Karnataka

(Before M. Nagaprasanna, J.)

Archana Patil  Vs State of Karnataka

Criminal Petition No. 12777 of 2024

Decided on August 18, 2025, 

Citation: 2025 SCC OnLine Kar 17687

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