DharmeshShah (Self Employed) 24 August 2012

Legal opinios for filing case under ipc 312

Dear Experts,

SIL has done secret aboriton secretly without the consent and information of my brother,while she was away from matrimonial home and brother (around 3 months by then). Now,she has alleged in her application that elder brother hit her 3 months back, so it was miscarriage...

They are trying their best to put us under false DV and 498a casebut with the help of learned members we want to fight back.

Please let us know what are the charges we can file/options available to us for her such actions of abortion without consent and information of husband and the best way of putting forward this case.

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Guest (Guest) 25 August 2012

It is the right of the wife to decide if she wants to give birth to the child or not. When a wife has s*xual intercourse with her husband she does it in respect of her conjugal duties. Adherence to conjugal duties cannot be deemed as consent to give birth to the child. Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act) incorporates a non-obstante clause in respect of the acts specified as offences under IPC. The Act does not anywhere talk about the consent of the husband in aborting the child. Subject to the provisions of the MTP Act, the wife alone can decide if she wants to continue with the pregnancy or not. Husband has no right to stop the wife from aborting, or maintaining any penal action against her for having aborted. At the most, it can only be a ground for the husband to claim divorce on the ground of mental cruelty.

Ashish Davessar

Advocate

Supreme Court of India/ Punjab and Haryana High Court

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