The best interests of the victim and the statutory provisions of the MTP Act, emphasizing the risk to the life and mental health of the pregnant woman, and the statutory presumption of grave injury to mental health in case of pregnancy caused by rape, guided the court's decision to permit the termination of the pregnancy.

JUDGMENT :

1. Before proceeding to consider the prayer made in this petition, we find it appropriate to extract para 35 of the judgment rendered by Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Suchita Srivastava and another vs. Chandigarh Administration, 2009 9 SCC 1.

"35. The doctrine of "parens patriae" has been evolved in common law and is applied in situations where the State must make decisions in order to protect the interests of those persons who are unable to take care of themselves. Traditionally this doctrine has been applied in cases involving the rights of minors and those persons who have been found to be mentally incapable of making informed decisions for themselves."

2. The facts presented and the submissions made before us in this case call upon us to exercise our jurisdiction as "parens patriae" to safeguard the interest of a rape victim, who is minor.

3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel, learned Government Advocate, Sri Abhinav N. Trivedi, learned counsel representing King George's Medical University, and Sri J.N. Mathur, and Ms. Bulbul Godiyal, learned Senior Advocates, who have graciously provided their assistance to the Court on our request.

4. On 16.07.2019, the Court passed the following order:-

"Having regard to the facts narrated in this petition, Registry is directed to register this case with changed cause title as 'Km.X Vs. State of U.P. and others'.

Under no circumstances identity of the petitioner shall be disclosed.

This petition filed by a minor (as per her date of birth recorded in the High School Certificate issued by Board of High School and Intermediate Education) narrates the distress, trauma and mental agony of a minor victim of rape and sexual abuse which she is under-going.

More disturbing fact which we notice in this case is that as per the First Information Report, this victim is presently subjected to undescribable agony, that too at the hands of a person more than the age of her father.

Perhaps, we cannot understand the anguish caused to the victim on account of about 21weeks' of her pregnancy caused by her physical violation.

The prayer made by the petitioner through her father in this petition is that appropriate direction may be issued allowing the petitioner to get her pregnancy terminated.

While considering the prayers made in this petition, we are conscious of the provisions contained in Section 3 of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 which permits termination of pregnancy only in case length of pregnancy does not exceed twenty weeks, that too, if continuance of such pregnancy, in the opinion of two registered medical practitioners, involves a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or there is substantial risk that if the child is born, it would suffer from such physical and mental abnormalities which may render the child seriously handicapped.

Having regard to the facts presented before us through this petition we, nonetheless, find it appropriate to get the petitioner examined by a Medical Board to be constituted by the Vice Chancellor of King Georges Medical, University, Lucknow.

We order accordingly.

The Medical Board to be constituted under this order shall comprise of 1. Head of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics or his/her nominee, 2. Head of the Department of Pediatrics or his/her nominee, 3. Head of the Department of Radio-diagnostics or his/her nominee and 4. A Psychologist/ Psychiatrist to be nominated by the head of the department of Psychiatry.

This panel or Medical Board will comprise of the aforesaid doctors from King Georges Medical, University itself.

We require the petitioner to be present in the Office of the Vice Chancellor of the King Georges Medical, University tomorrow i.e. 17.07.2019 at 10:00 am alongwith her parents. Once petitioner reports to the Vice Chancellor, she shall be examined by the aforementioned Medical B