1) When Justice Takes Pause: The Shifting Landscape of Bail for Women, the Pregnant, and the Infirm Under India’s Criminal Laws
Part 2: Pregnant Women and Nursing Mothers—When Two Lives Are One
The Invisible Category
Neither Section 437 of the CrPC nor Section 480 of the BNSS explicitly mentions pregnant women or nursing mothers. Yet pregnancy may fall under two categories: “woman” and “sick or infirm.” This ambiguity has forced courts to venture beyond the statutory text and into constitutional territory.
The judicial approach has been transformative. Courts now treat pregnancy as a “super-category”—a condition that engages the rights of two distinct entities: the mother and the unborn child. Both are constitutionally protected; neither is justiciable as a criminal actor.
https://www.lawweb.in/2025/12/when-justice-takes-pause-shifting.html
