The Supreme Court on Saturday came down heavily on the Gujarat High Court for wasting ‘valuable’ time in deciding on the petition of a rape survivor seeking permission for termination of pregnancy nearing 28 weeks.
Holding a special sitting at 10.30 am today, the Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan castigated the High Court for posting the matter for August 23, after receiving the report by a medical board formed to ascertain the status of pregnancy on August 11.
The Apex Court observed that the High Court’s decision led to a ‘loss’ of 12 valuable days, even when it knew that every day’s delay was crucial and of great significance having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case.
Advocate Shashank Singh, appearing for the petitioner, apprised the Apex Court that the medical board opined in favour of termination of pregnancy; however, the High Court did not entertain the plea for abortion.
He said the writ petition was filed in the High Court on August 7 and the Bench took up the matter on August 8, when it directed constitution of a medical board to ascertain the status of pregnancy.
On August 10, the board submitted its report to the High Court, which took it on record and posted the matter to August 23.
The Supreme Court then expressed surprise at the High Court posting the matter after 12 days, observing that the High Court should have shown a sense of urgency in such cases. The Bench further said that a lackadaisical attitude treating it as a normal matter should not have been exercised.
Advocate Singh submitted that the case was listed before the High Court on August 17, on which date the petition was dismissed. However, the order of dismissal has not been uploaded yet.
The Apex Court directed the Secretary General of the Supreme Court to ascertain from the Gujarat High Court Registry whether the order has been uploaded.
While noting that it could not proceed without the order, the Bench observed that it would wait for the High Court judgement.
The Bench directed for a fresh medical examination of the petitioner and ordered her to appear before the hospital for being examined once again today. The report would be submitted before the Supreme Court by tomorrow. The Apex Court would hear the matter again on Monday as the first item.