The Bombay High Court (HC) has expressed its displeasure with the police for compelling doctors to reveal the names and identity of minor girls who wish to terminate their pregnancy, despite a Supreme Court directive saying it need not be insisted upon.
A bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale on July 28 said the police’s insistence on revealing the name and identity of such girls was nothing but harassment of the minor victims and doctors.
A city-based gynaecologist had filed a petition seeking a direction that he was free to carry out the medical procedure to terminate the pregnancy of a minor girl without disclosing her name and identity to the police.
The petitioner’s lawyer, Meenaz Kakalia, relied on a 2022 Supreme Court judgment which said the medical practitioner need not disclose the identity and other personal details of the minor in any criminal proceedings.
As per the plea, the girl had consensual sexual relations with a boy known to her and is now 13 weeks pregnant.
