In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a mentally challenged woman the right to give birth.
The law is blind. But it is not always heartless.
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a mentally challenged woman the right to give birth. The woman, who is 19 weeks pregnant, is an orphan and a rape victim.
The court proceedings oscillated between seeming insensitivity and deeply moving rhetoric. At the end, the judges invoked Nature, saying it will shelter the mother and her child.
The woman — who is 19, unmarried and has an IQ of a nine-year-old — became pregnant after she was raped by an employee of a women’s home run by the Chandigarh administration. Last week, the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) ordered medical termination of the pregnancy — against her wishes.
Overturning the HC order, a three-judge bench comprising chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan said detailed reasoning for the decision will be given later.
The Chandigarh administration’s counsel, Anupam Gupta and Colin Gonsalves, vehemently argued for retaining the HC order. They said that bringing up the child may be a traumatic experience for the woman and might affect her mental health. But the chief justice retorted: “By the same logic, as the girl knows that she is going to have the baby and if it is aborted without her consent, she might face trauma impairing her mental health.”
Tanu Bedi, who argued on behalf of the woman, asked: “Why would a girl, even if mentally retarded, be deprived of motherhood which is her right?
“If her mental age is a consideration for the judiciary to think that she would not be able to take care of her baby, why should poor women, who are found lacking in bringing up their children, be allowed to become mothers?”
Complete silence prevailed in the courtroom.
The bench then said its only concern was if the woman was in a physical condition to give birth. When her gynaecologist, present in the courtroom, said she could, but there were chances of serious mental implications for the mother and the child, the court said: “Nature will give some protection.”
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