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A writ petition was filed to allow the Petitioner to undergo Medical Termination of the Pregnancy. The petitioner is 27 years of age. She is in the 25th week of her pregnancy. The foetus being carried by her was diagnosed with severe oligohydromnios and bilateral multicystic dysplastic kidneys which were incompatible with life. She, in the circumstances, seeks to have the foetus aborted, but is statutorily restrained from doing so, owing to the combined effect of Sections 3(2)(b) and 5(1) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act), the vires, of which she seeks, therefore, to call in question. The bench comprising of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar said that in certain circumstances it is difficult to refuse the permission to undergo medical termination of pregnancy. The bench was of the opinion that the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 have to be construed as a part of cumulative dispensation and not isolated from each other. The court said that it is convinced that, even in a case where the condition of the foetus is, as in the instant case, incompatible with life, the rigor of Section- 3(2) deserves to be relaxed. The court also referred to the judgment in Tapasya Umesh Pisal v. Union of India & Ors, (2018) 12 SCC 57, where the termination of pregnancy was allowed because the foetus if allowed to born, would have a limited life span with serious handicaps which cannot be avoided. Thus, the Delhi High Court opined that the right to terminate pregnancy cannot be denied merely because the gestation has continued beyond 20 weeks.
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