Medical Termination Of Pregnancy Kit Sale Is Not An Offence Under MTP Act: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The  Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that medical termination of pregnancy kit sale is not an offence under Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP Act).

The FIR and following procedures against the petitioner were cancelled by the single bench of Justice Pankaj Jain on the grounds that the charges did not establish a case against the accused, citing the precedent in Dr. Vandana Malik v. State of Haryana.

At the Civil Line Police Station in Sonipat, a FIR was filed against the petitioner under Sections 15(2) and 15(3) of the Indian Medical Council Act as well as Sections 3 and 4 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act).

According to the FIR, a raid was carried out at the Gandhi Memorial Clinic as a result of unreleased information indicating possible illegal abortion procedures. The petitioner allegedly consented to conduct an abortion for Rs. 500 after they sent a phony pregnant woman to the clinic. The money was then discovered with the petitioner after being given to the fake woman by the police. During the raid, several medicinal goods were taken.

The major issue was whether or not the MTP Act considered the simple sale of a kit for medically ending a pregnancy to be unlawful. The Act primarily tries to limit and confine abortion treatments to registered medical practitioners or designated places, the court noted in a prior decision, Dr. Vandana Malik v. State of Haryana.

Even if the accusations against the petitioner were true, the court determined that they did not amount to a violation of the MTP Act. It was mentioned that no proof of the petitioner actually performing an abortion had been gathered during the investigation. Furthermore, the presence of medical equipment in a hospital does not necessarily indicate criminal activities.

“In view of the aforesaid settled proposition of law, this Court finds that sale of MTP Kit itself cannot be said to be an offence punishable under the MTP Act. Finding it to be a case which would fall within the parameters of law laid down by Apex Court in the case of State of Haryana and others vs. Ch. Bhajan Lal and others, this Court finds that the present FIR and the proceedings subsequent thereto cannot be allowed to continue,” the court reasoned.