Srinagar, Oct. 9, KDC: Coming down heavily on government doctors for shying away from their statutory duties and compelling distressed women to knock on court doors for medical terminations, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the authorities of a premier tertiary maternity hospital in Srinagar to immediately convene a Medical Board to examine a woman carrying a 32-week-old fetus suffering from severe congenital spinal abnormalities.
Disposing of a writ petition, Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani held that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971, the prescribed gestational ceilings do not apply when severe fetal abnormalities are diagnosed or when termination is immediately necessary to save the life of the mother.
The petition was moved by a married couple seeking urgent directions for the constitution of a Medical Board after advanced diagnostic scans detected severe abnormalities in the fetus at nearly 32 weeks of gestation.
According to the medical record, earlier scans performed at 12 weeks and 21 weeks showed normal fetal development with no gross anomalies. However, on September 24, at a gestational age of 31 weeks and 6 days, an ultrasound examination for the first time revealed polyhydramnios, mild ventriculomegaly, and a large communicating cystic structure in the lumbar spine suggestive of Arnold-Chiari Type-II malformation. A subsequent fetal MRI conducted on September 25 confirmed a large posterior spinal defect measuring approximately 6.0 \times 6.5 \times 8.3\text{ cm}, consistent with open spinal dysraphism and a large myelomeningocele.
While senior specialists and obstetricians explained the grave prognosis regarding mortality and morbidity to the parents on September 29, doctors expressed inability to proceed with the termination due to the advanced stage of pregnancy without judicial intervention, forcing the family to approach the High Court.
Advocates Owais Qadri and Asif Wani, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the delay was entirely non-attributable to the mother, who had maintained regular antenatal checkups.
Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin S. Qadri, assisted by Assisting Counsel Maha Majid, submitted that the MTP Act and the 2003 Rules establish a comprehensive mechanism, suggesting that the matter be referred to the tertiary maternity hospital for evaluation by a duly qualified board.
Disposing of the petition at the threshold, the High Court directed the Medical Superintendent of the premier maternity hospital in Srinagar to immediately constitute a competent Medical Board under the Act to examine the mother and take a prompt decision regarding termination through approved procedures.
The Bench further directed that in the event the baby is born alive during the procedure, immediate treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) must be provided, subject to medical protocols and parental consent.
Justice Mohd Yousuf Wani, while parting with the case, observed: “Before parting it deserves a needful mention that the registered medical practitioners especially doctors working in the associated hospitals of medical colleges and in other district hospitals do not shoulder their statutory responsibilities in terms of the provisions of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and the rules of 2003 framed thereunder in justified cases,” the Court said, “thereby leaving the aggrieved mothers at the mercy of the God who, in search of some solace feel constrained to shoulder further mental agony and burden of approaching the courts of law for legal directions.”
Underlining that statutory guidelines are unambiguous, the court observed, “It is needless to mention that where statutory directions are clear, the responsible medical practitioners especially the Medical Board in place under the provisions of the MTP Act and the rules framed thereunder in almost every district shall not unnecessarily avoid to attend such emergent cases. The provisions of Clause 2-B of Section 3 and Clause 1 of Section 5 of the MTP Act clearly reveal that the provisions relating to length of pregnancy shall not apply to termination of pregnancy by the medical practitioner where such termination is necessitated by the diagnosis of any of the substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by a medical board and/or immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant women.”
Directing that a copy of the order be dispatched forthwith to the hospital authorities for immediate compliance, the High Court closed the proceedings. (KDC)
