Pregnant rape victim must be told about legal rights, says Supreme Court

Rape victim who becomes pregnant must be told about her legal rights the Supreme Court said on Friday and issued notice to the Centre on a plea for setting up of medical boards in states and union territories to decide cases of unwanted pregnancies of over 20 weeks for terminationSection 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 prohibits termination of pregnancy after 20 weeksIf a woman is raped and is pregnant she must be told about her legal rights said the bench headed by Chief Justice S A BobdeThe bench also comprising justice A S Bopanna took up the larger issue of setting up of medical boards in every states and UTs after lawyer V K Biju appearing for a 14yearold rape victim decided not to seek permission to terminate the 26week pregnancy of the survivor apparently on account of some medical opinionThe court has sought response of the Centre in four weeksEarlier besides seeking nod to abort the fetus of the victim the plea has sought framing of guideline on appointment of medical boards ldquoto decide cases of unwanted pregnancies that has crossed 20 weeksrdquo in every states and UTs for termination of pregnancyDuring brief hearing Biju said he was not seeking the permission to abort now but sought setting up of medical boards in states saying When I was drafting this petition I had seen the pain of the parents of the girlWe will issue notice on this prayer two We will record your statement that you are not pressing prayer 1 termination of pregnancy of the girl the bench saidIf there is a local board to check such cases it will be helpful the bench told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati who was appearing in the matterIt is a different case when rape is not reported to you as a state If it is reported there can be some mechanism where you can follow up with the victim whether she is pregnant and what are her legal rights the bench told the law officerThe law officer said she will file an affidavit giving all the details on the issueBhati said that Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill 2020 is passed by the Lok Sabha and it will be discussed in the Rajya SabhaThe top court had on March 2 sought report from the medical board of civil hospital Karnal about the feasibility of her request for termination of pregnancyThe bench was hearing a plea filed by the minor girl who has said that she was pregnant after being raped by one of her relativesThe top court had earlier issued notices to the Centre and Haryana government seeking their responsesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever