The Bombay High Court has rebuked the police for compelling doctors to disclose the identity of minor girls seeking to terminate a pregnancy despite a Supreme Court directive that it should not be insisted on. A bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Neela Gokhale on July 28 said the police’s insistence was nothing but “harassment of the girls and doctors”.
As per the rules, when a girl who is below 18 years of age approaches a doctor seeking an abortion, the latter has to inform the police. The petition filed by a city-based gynaecologist sought a direction that he should not be forced to disclose the girl’s name to the police in one such case.
The girl had had consensual sexual relations with a boy. She and her parents wanted to terminate her 13-week pregnancy, but did not want her name to be disclosed to the police in view of her future, said the petitioner.
Meenaz Kakalia, the petitioner’s lawyer, relied on a 2022 Supreme Court judgment, which stated that a medical practitioner does not need to disclose the identity and other personal details of a minor in any criminal proceedings. The court permitted the gynaecologist to carry out the pregnancy termination without revealing the girl’s name.
It was quite surprising that despite the Supreme Court order, doctors were forced to move the HC for permission as police insisted that they disclose the identity of minor victims in such cases, the judges said. “This is nothing but harassment of the doctors as well as the minor victims.”
The court further asserted that a copy of the Supreme Court order should be circulated to all police stations in Maharashtra, and a copy should also be sent to the state Director General of Police for necessary action.
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