X vs Union of India and Anr
Background
A 27-year-old married woman with two young children, the younger being about a year old, discovered she was around 24 weeks pregnant only after visiting a gynaecologist post-delivery of her second child, having missed the earlier signs because breastfeeding-related lactational amenorrhea had stopped her periods. Citing postpartum depression and financial strain (her husband being the sole earner supporting multiple dependents), she approached the Supreme Court directly under Article 32 seeking permission for a medical termination since hospitals had refused given the pregnancy had crossed 20 weeks. A two-judge Bench initially allowed the termination on 9 October 2023 after an AIIMS Medical Board review, but the situation became complicated when an AIIMS doctor emailed the Additional Solicitor General warning that the foetus (now about 26 weeks) was viable and asked the Court to clarify whether the foetal heartbeat should be deliberately stopped before the procedure.
Decision Breakdown
Following this development, the same two-judge Bench heard the Union's recall application but delivered a split verdict, so the matter went to a three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice. The Court first held that although a formal review petition (not a recall application) was the technically correct route, it was justified in invoking Article 142 to do complete justice given the case's urgency, the medical-viability stakes, and that the critical new information came to light only after the original order through no fault of the parties. On the merits, since the pregnancy had crossed the 24-week statutory limit, termination could only be permitted if the foetus had a substantial abnormality (none was found on a fresh AIIMS report) or if termination was immediately necessary to save the mother's life (neither medical report supported this). The Court declined to direct doctors to stop the viable foetus's heartbeat, noting the petitioner herself did not want such a direction, and ultimately denied permission for termination, directing that AIIMS conduct the delivery at government expense, with adoption left as an option entirely at the parents' discretion.
Lesson Learnt
Once a pregnancy crosses the 24-week statutory limit under the MTP Act, termination can only proceed if there is a substantial foetal abnormality certified by a Medical Board or an immediate threat to the mother's life. The Supreme Court's wide Article 142 powers to do "complete justice" do not extend to directing doctors to stop the heartbeat of a viable foetus that does not meet these statutory conditions.