No Concrete Evidence to prove criminal charges: Bombay HC relief to doctor accused of performing MTP on woman without consent

Mumbai: Observing no concrete evidence was submitted to prove the criminal charges against the doctor, the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to the doctor who was accused of performing an abortion on a pregnant woman.

Passing the order, Single Bench Justice Milind Sathaye noted that there was no evidence to connect the doctor to the alleged abortion and that the FIR did not provide specific details such as the date of the abortion or the doctor's name.

"The applicant is a qualified doctor who has also got further opportunity to pursue an additional medical course. There are no criminal antecedents. There is no angle of any personal enmity etc. His whole career is at stake and it will only perish further if his personal liberty is not protected," the court observed.

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According to a TOI news report, the advocate of the doctor alleged that the woman had filed a complaint with the Kagal police station on October 9 under IPC section 313 (miscarriage without woman's consent), alleging that her husband and mother-in-law took her to a public health centre where her fetus was aborted without her consent using a medicine. 

The woman in her complaint alleged that the abortion took place on March 11 and the abortion was carried out by the doctor illegally without her consent. 

However, the doctor's advocate argued that the woman had previously lodged an FIR of rape against him, but they later got married in February, and she withdrew the case. The advocate also pointed out discrepancies in the woman's statements, including the timing of the alleged abortion.

Additionally, the advocate presented a sonography report suggesting that the woman was six weeks pregnant in December and claimed that, by March 11, she would have been at least 16 weeks pregnant. At this advanced stage, abortion by using medicine is said to be unlikely, and a surgical operation would be necessary, with a corresponding record.

The prosecutor mentioned that the police found no medical record of any procedure on the woman, and the CCTV footage at the health centre was overwritten. Despite these challenges, the doctor was arrested on October 13 and was kept in police custody based on the woman's statement.

Afterwards, the doctor approached the Bombay HC and claimed that he had been accepted into a post-graduate diploma program in obstetrics and gynaecology in Mizoram. He was worried that if he didn't attend the course, he would lose his position.

In light of these circumstances, Justice Milind Sathaye concluded that there was a case for the grant of bail, and the doctor was released on bail by the Bombay High Court.

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