The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to respond to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that calls for the removal of the unscientific and invasive "two-finger test" or virginity test from the MBBS curriculum, in line with Supreme Court directives.

The PIL, filed by Smita Sarode Singalkar, challenges the continued reference to the test in medical education, arguing that it violates the right to privacy of sexual assault survivors and lacks any scientific or moral basis.

A Bench comprising Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi, while hearing the plea, underlined the importance of adhering to the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in State of Jharkhand v. Shailendra Kumar Rai. In that case, the apex court had directed both Central and State governments to eliminate the two-finger test from medical examinations of sexual assault survivors, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's guidelines.

The Supreme Court also emphasized the need for training healthcare professionals and revising medical curricula to ensure such discriminatory and unscientific practices are not propagated.

During the hearing, the High Court observed that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, along with the National Medical Commission (NMC), had already initiated steps to revise the MBBS curriculum. The NMC’s guidelines dated August 18, 2022, explicitly called for the removal of the two-finger test from medical practice and recommended educating students on its lack of scientific validity.

In accordance with these directives, the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) has modified its second-year anatomy curriculum to educate future medical professionals on the illegitimacy of such tests, particularly the two-finger test performed on female genitalia.

The Court has now sought a detailed response from both the State government and MUHS within two weeks, specifically asking for information on the measures taken to comply with the Supreme Court's directions. The matter is scheduled to be heard next on April 9.

Legal Representation:

• Petitioner: Advocate Renuka Sirpurkar

• State Government: Additional Government Pleader DP Thakare

• MUHS: Advocate Abhijit Deshpande

• Union Government: Advocate Rahul Bhangade