The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, through Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, urged AIIMS doctors on Tuesday to hold their hands after they sought clarification on the court's order to terminate a 26-week-old pregnancy after a medical team advised against it.
The court's judgment came on Monday, despite AIIMS's medical board stating that the foetus is well formed, healthy, and has a very good probability of ending in a normal delivery at the end of the pregnancy period.

On Tuesday, the doctors in charge of carrying out the abortion operation wrote back to Bhati, demanding clarification from the court on two counts: Because the baby is viable, we will require a ruling from the Supreme Court on whether a foeticide (stopping the heart of a normal foetus) should be conducted; if foeticide is not performed, the pregnancy will be terminated, but the baby will be treated and cared for. A baby born prematurely and with such low birth weight will spend a lengthy time in intensive care, with a high risk of immediate and long-term physical and mental damage, jeopardizing the baby's quality of life.

ASG Bhati sent the doctors' predicament to a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah for immediate clarity. However, Justice Hima Kohli stated that because the order was issued by a special bench of women judges, the ASG must re-apply to the CJI for formation of that bench. Bhati went to CJI DY Chandrachud, who promised to list the case before the bench of Justices Kohli and BV Nagarathna on Wednesday.

Previously, the Supreme Court allowed termination of even older pregnancies, despite the fact that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act limits the pregnancy period to 24 weeks, if the pregnancy was caused by sexual assault, an unwanted pregnancy for a minor or unmarried girl, or if the foetus suffered grave deficiency.

ASG Bhati had attempted to persuade Justices Hima Kohli and BV Nagarathna to reconsider their decision to allow termination of a married woman's pregnancy because the foetus had passed the 24-week limit and the AIIMS medical board had advised against termination.
ASG Bhati even offered that if the pregnancy culminated in childbirth and the couple did not want to keep the newborn, she would personally work with the Central Adoption Resource Authority to guarantee that the child had proper guardians so that he or she could live a full life. However, the bench chose to follow the married woman's wishes and ordered the pregnancy to be terminated.

The case is listed before the Special Bench today on 11.10.2023.

Case Details:-

W.P.(C) No. 001137 - / 2023

POONAM SHARMA

Versus

Union of India