JUDGMENT :

SHAJI P. CHALY, J.

1. We are, in this writ petition, confronted with a difficult and disheartening situation. The father of a minor girl is before us praying for an order permitting his daughter (hereafter called ‘Y’) to medically terminate her pregnancy, which has now progressed to the 24th week. It would appear that ‘Y’ had eloped with her paramour, a married man, and the efforts of her parents to trace her did not meet with any success till almost five months later, when the police authorities managed to trace her location to Mangalore. The paramour was arrested and charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, and ‘Y’ was restored to the custody of her parents. By that time, however, the pregnancy of ‘Y’ had already advanced considerably.

2. Although the petitioner approached the Sessions Court seeking permission to terminate the pregnancy, the said court did not entertain the petition citing jurisdictional reasons. The court was apparently of the view that the maximum permitted period for termination of a pregnancy, based on the opinion of two registered medical practitioners, under the Medical Termin