1 BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LAW MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2010 In the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, NEW DELHI Case Concerning, ‘Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India and Fundamental Right of a Person to Life’ In the Matter of Mrs. Nita Jain ................................................... ............................................ (Appellant) & Sahayog (NGO) …...………………………………………………………… (Petitioner) V. Union of India …………………………………....……….………………. (Respondent) On submission to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India WRITTEN SUBMISSION ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT PAGE 1
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1
BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LAW
MOOT COURT COMPETITION, 2010
In the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, NEW DELHI
Case Concerning, ‘Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India
3. WHETHER IS THERE ANY VIOLATION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF A PERSON TO LIFE
UNDER ARTICLE 21 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA?
It is humbly submitted before the Hon’ble Court that there is no violation of fundamental
right of a person to life whatsoever under Art 2110 of the Constitution of India of the
appellant.
The Art. 21 of Indian constitution provide right to life & right to privacy & The Art. 6(1) of
the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of
life. But there are some controversial issues related to this supreme right. One such issue is
the question of Right to abortion. Among other rights of women, it is believed that every
mother has a right to abortion, it is a universal right. But the rights of the mother are to be
balanced with the rights of the unborn. Earlier the right to abortion was not permitted & it
was strongly opposed by the society. The termination of pregnancy was termed to be a
murder of the foetus. But due to the change in time & technology, nowadays this right has
been legally sanctioned by most of the nations after the famous decision of Roe Vs Wade11
by the US Supreme Court in this case the Court held that a mother may abort her pregnancy
for any reason, up until the “point at which the foetus becomes ‘viable’”.
In the case of Suchita Srivastava12, the Court held that there is no doubt that a woman’s right
to make reproductive choices is also a dimension of “personal liberty” as understood under
Art. 21 of the Constitution of India. But there is also a “compelling State Interest” in
protecting the life of the prospective child and, therefore the termination of the pregnancy
could only be permitted under the condition specified in the MTPA, 1971 which are to be
viewed as reasonable restrictions placed on the exercise of reproductive choices.
§ 3 of the MTP Act said that pregnancy can be terminated if:
# Therapeutic indication: in order to prevent injury to the physical or mental health of the
woman.
# Eugenic indication: in view of the substantial risk that if the child were born, it would suffer
from such physical or mental abnormalities as to seriously handicap.
10 Article 21 lays down that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to
‘procedure established by law’.11 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
12 Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration, (2009) 9 SSC 1.
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# Humanitarian indication: as the pregnancy is alleged by a pregnant woman to have been
caused by rape.
# Social indication: as the pregnancy has occurred as result of failure of any contraceptive
device or method used by married woman or her husband for the purpose of limiting the
number of children.
# The continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were
terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman
# The termination of pregnancy is to be carried out in a government hospital or at a place
approved by the government & two medical practitioners are necessary if the pregnancy is
more than 12 weeks but less than 20 weeks duration; for less than 12 weeks one medical
practitioner can terminate it.
# The consent of woman alone is required if she above 18 year of age, but if she is a minor or
lunatic, consent of the guardian is necessary.
§ 312 of the Indian Penal Code read with the Medical termination of Pregnancy act, 1971
where all the restrictions imposed therein, including the time limit of 20 weeks, other than the
ones to ensure good medical conditions, infringe the right to abortion & the right to health,
which emanate from right to life as guaranteed by Art. 21 of the Constitution & also violates
her liberty & happiness. The Supreme Court of India has said that the right to privacy is
implicit in Art. 21 of the Constitution & a right to abortion can be read from this right.
Now when we look into the facts of this case we can derive from the above mentioned act
that now at this stage she cannot undergo abortion legally.
The question that crops up is that why she wants to undergo abortion even when the
expert committee has made it clear that there would be no risk to her & even her child
is capable of living normally with the assistance of pace maker? The doctor informed
appellant in the 20th week that there might be some problems or complications for the
appellant to conceive again & therefore, advised her to have an abortion immediately. In the
22nd week she agreed to undergo abortion only because of the fact that she may have
problems in conceiving again in future & child will face some serious problems & his quality
of life would be poor. But the expert committee appointed by the Hon’ble Saurashtra High
Court in its report made it clear that the said abnormality would not in any manner
whatsoever hamper or affect the appellant’s health or her ability to conceive in future &
recommended against abortion of the foetus at such an advanced stage of pregnancy since the
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child would be capable of leading a normal life with the assistance of an artificial pacemaker.
On this basis the Hon’ble court held that the case was not an exceptional one to consider the
compassionate plea of the appellant on medical grounds. Now when there is no risk to life of
the appellant & child is capable of living a normal life, then what is the point of abortion? It
is just that now the appellant is running away from her responsibility. She doesn’t want a
child who is just less than perfect & thus wants that child to be killed. Earlier till 22nd week
she wanted child, but after that she changed her mind only because she came to know about
the problem of the child.
I would like to highlight again the examples of Dr. Stephen Hawking, the world renowned
scientist who suffers from extremely debilitating motor neuron disease & Ludwig van
Beethoven, one of the greatest music composers of all times. If at that time, had there been
mechanisms to detect such disabilities in the foetus, these people may never have been born.
And in this case as already mentioned the child is capable of leading a normal life. Isn’t it
violating the provisions of Art. 1413 of the Constitution of India? Won’t it lead to any
discrimination? The child have every right to live & we must consider the rights of the
unborn who are defenceless individuals incapable of taking decisions or making informed
choices about their right to life.
Art 14 bars discrimination & prohibits discriminatory laws. And decision in favour of
abortion will lead to discrimination to this child. Our law protects the rights of unborn child
& of disabled too. Like § 2014 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, § 1315 & § 2016 Transfer Of
Property Act, 1882 and § 617 of the Limitation Act, 1963 recognises the rights of a child in
the womb.
13 Article 14 outlaws discrimination & guarantees equality before law to all persons. It embodies the principle of
“non-discrimination”.
14 A child who was in the womb at the time of the death of an intestate & who is subsequently born alive shall
have the same right to inherit to the intestate as if he or she had been born, before the death of the intestate, &
the inheritance shall be deemed to vest in such a case with effect from the date of the death of the intestate.15 Transfer for benefit of unborn person. - Where, on a transfer of property, an interest therein is created for the
benefit of a person not in existence at the date of the transfer, subject to a prior interest created by the same
transfer, the interest created for the benefit of such person shall not take effect, unless it extends to the whole of
the remaining interest of the transferor in the property.16 When unborn person acquires vested interest on transfer for his benefit.- Where, on a transfer of property, an
interest therein is created for the benefit of a person not then living, he acquires upon his birth, unless a contrary
intention appears from the terms of the transfer, a vested interest, although he may not be entitled to the
enjoyment thereof immediately on his birth.
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The appeal of the appellant for the violation of her fundamental right of a person to life under
Art 21 is thus not justifiable. We can see here that it’s now illegal to allow her for abortion &
if it will be allowed then what about the right to life of that unborn baby? An unborn child
aged five months onwards in the mother's womb till its birth can be treated as equal to a child
in existence. The unborn child to whom the live birth never comes can be held to be a 'person'
who can be the subject of an action for damages for his death. A person means a human being
regarded as an individual & an individual's body: concealed on his person. Therefore, human
foetus to which personhood could be attributed must not be destroyed only on this ground of
abnormality; this child has every right to live & see the light of the day. Thus, from the above
facts we can derive that an unborn child is entitled to right to life. There is no kind of
violation to the rights of appellant but her wish to abort the baby will definitely infringe the
right of that unborn baby to life.
17 Where a person entitled to institute a suit or make an application for execution of the decree is, at the time
from which the prescribed period is to be reckoned, a minor, he may institute the suit or make the application
within the same period after the disability has ceased. Explanation to § 6 reads thus: “For the purpose of this
section, ‘minor’ includes a child in the womb”.
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4. WHETHER IS THERE ANY NEED FOR THE RECONSIDERATION OF THE CASE OF GIAN KAUR
V. STATE OF PUNJAB?
It is humbly submitted before the Hon’ble Court that there is not at all any need to reconsider
the case of Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab18, as the facts of the case of Gian Kaur is altogether
different & deals with suicide/abetment of suicide somewhere linked with right to life under
Art. 21. Under Art. 21 the term life has a very expansive meaning & we cannot bring any
relevancy from the case of Gian Kaur by linking both the cases, as this case is about abortion
linked with right to life.
In India, the sanctity of life has been placed on the highest pedestal. “The right to life” under
Art. 21 of the Constitution has received the widest possible interpretation under the able
hands of the judiciary and rightly so. This right is inalienable and is inherent in us. It
cannot and is not conferred upon us. This vital point seems to elude all those who keep on
clamouring for the "Right to Die".
The stance taken by the judiciary in this regard is unquestionable.
In Gian Kaur vs. State of Punjab, a five judge Constitutional Bench held that the "right to
life" is inherently inconsistent with the "right to die" as is "death" with "life". In furtherance,
the right to life, which includes right to live with human dignity, would mean the existence of
such a right up to the natural end of life. It may further include "death with dignity" but such
existence should not be confused with unnatural extinction of life curtailing natural span of
life. In progression of the above, the constitutionality of Section 309 of the I.P.C, which
makes "attempt to suicide" an offence, was upheld, overruling the judgment in P.
Rathinam's19 case.
The factor of immense significance to be noted here is that suicide, euthanasia, mercy killing
and the like amount to unnatural ebbing of life. This decision thereby
overruling P.Rathinam's case establishes that the “Right to life” not only precludes the “right
to die” but also the “right to kill.”
18 AIR 1996 SC 946.19 P.Rathinam v. Union of India, AIR 1994 SC 1844: (1994) 3 SCC 394.
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Interestingly in P.Rathinam's case, even when a Division bench affirmed the view in M.S
Dubal v. State of Maharashtra20 that the “right to life” provided by the Constitution may be
said to bring into its purview, the right not to live a forced life, the plea that euthanasia be
legalized was discarded. It was held that as euthanasia involves the intervention of a third
person, it would indirectly amount to a person aiding or abetting the killing of another, which
would be inviting Section 30621 of the I.P.C.
In Naresh Marotrao Sakhre v. Union of India22, Lodha J. affirmed that "Euthanasia or
mercy killing is nothing but homicide whatever the circumstances in which it is affected."
The above inferences lead to one irresistible conclusion i.e. any form that involves unnatural
termination of life, whether an attempt to suicide, abetment to suicide/assisted suicide or
euthanasia, is illegal. The fact that even an attempt to suicide is punishable goes to show the
extent of credibility accorded to the sanctity of life and the right to life as a whole. This apart,
the decriminalization of euthanasia is unworkable in the Indian perspective, even on
humanitarian grounds, as it involves a third person. It is humbly submitted that the
implementation of the above mechanism in India is utopian and thus the two situations
incomparable.
Hon’ble High Court of Saurashtra placed its judgement based on the report of expert medical
committee who were against the abortion as there was no harm whatsoever to the appellant,
also the child was capable of leading a normal life with the assistance of artificial pacemaker.
Thus, the appeal of abortion in this case is no where relevant as it will lead to violation of the
right of that unborn defenceless child who is very much capable of leading a normal life and
reconsidering the case of Gian Kaur would be mere waste of time of the court as there is no
point of linking both the cases.
20 1987 Cri L J 743 (Bom.)
21 If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.22 1995 Cri L J 96 (Bom.).
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5. WHETHER THE FILING OF SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 136 OF THE
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA JUSTIFIABLE?
It is humbly submitted before the Hon’ble Court that the filing of Special Leave Petition
under Art 13623 of Constitution of India is not justifiable.
Special leave petition means that you take special permission to be heard in appeal against
any High Court/tribunal verdict. Usually any issue decided by the State High Court is
considered as final, but if there exist any constitutional issue or legal issue which can only be
clarified by the Supreme Court of India then, this leave is granted by the Supreme Court &
this is heard as a Civil or Criminal appeal as the case may be. Going to the Supreme Court in
appeal should not be considered a matter of right by anyone but it is matter of privilege which
only the Supreme Court will grant to any individual if there exist an important constitutional
or legal issue involved in any case that was not properly interpreted by the concerned High
Court against whose judgment you approach the Highest court of the country not otherwise.
In this case, Hon’ble High Court of Saurashtra dismissed the writ petition earlier on the
ground that the law of the land did not permit termination of pregnancy beyond the 20 weeks
& also remarked that, in view of the expert committee report, the case was not an
exceptional one to consider the compassionate plea of the appellant on medical grounds.
This case would have been exceptional if:
It would have hampering the health of the appellant.
There would have been some serious problems to the child.
There would have been law for this & the judgement of the court would have been
against it.
Substantial and grave injustice has been done.
The Supreme Court has described the nature of its power under Art. 136 as follows:
23 Under Article 136 the Supreme Court is authorized to grant in its discretion special leave to appeal from (a)
any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order, (b) in any case or matter, (c) passed or made by any
Court or tribunal in the territory of India. The only exception to this power of the Supreme Court is with regard
to any judgment, etc. of any court or tribunal constitutional by or under any law relating to the Armed Forces.
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“The exercise of jurisdiction conferred by Art. 136 of the Constitution on this Court is
discretionary. It does not confer a right to appeal on a party to litigation; it only confers a
discretionary power of widest amplitude on this Court to be exercised for satisfying the
demands of justice. On the one hand, it is an exceptional power to be exercised sparingly,
with caution and care and to remedy extraordinary situations or situations occasioning gross
failure of justice; on the other hand, it is an overriding power whereunder the court may
generously step in to impart justice and remedy injustice”.
The power has been held to be plenary, limitless, “adjunctive” and unassailable on the
grounds of unconstitutionality. A word of caution was sounded in M.C. Mehta v. Union of
India24 to the effect that judicial discretion has to be exercised in accordance with law and set
legal principles. That means it cannot go ultra vires.
The Supreme Court has observed in Pritam Singh v. The State25, that the power under Art.
136 –
“is to be exercised sparingly and in exceptional cases only, and as far as possible, a more or
less uniform standard should be adopted in granting special leave in the wide range of matters
which can come up before it under this Article.”
The Court has emphasized:
“The only uniform standard which in our opinion can be laid down in the circumstances is
that Court should grant special leave to appeal in those cases where special circumstances are
shown to exist”
In conclusion, the Court has said:
“Generally speaking, this court will not grant special leave, unless it is shown that
exceptional and special circumstances exist, that substantial and grave injustice has been
done and that the case in question presents features of sufficient gravity to warrant a review
of the decision appealed against”.
But here in this case,
i. It is neither hampering the health of the appellant nor will she face any problem in
conceiving in future.
24 (2004) 6 SCC 588, 613 : AIR 2004 SC 4618.25 AIR 1950 SC 169 : 1950 SCR 453.
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ii. Further child is also capable of living a normal life with the assistance of an artificial
pace maker.
iii. There is no law for termination of pregnancy beyond 20 weeks if it is not hampering
the health of the woman.
iv. There has not been any grave injustice done, the Hon’ble High Court of Saurashtra
observed that there is no risk to the life of appellant nor any serious problem to the
child so as to consider it as an exceptional case, and the expert committee also
recommended against the abortion at such an advanced stage as abortion may cause
risk to the life of appellant.
Thus, after going through the facts of this case we can see that it is not a
special/important/exceptional case which requires any sort of special attention. Thus,
the filing of SLP under Art 136 of the Constitution of India is not justifiable.
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PRAYER FOR RELIEF
In light of the facts stated, arguments advanced & authorities cited, the Respondent, humbly
prays before the Honourable Court, to be graciously pleased to:
I. Quash the writs filed by the petitioners in the Hon’ble court of law since there
is no violation of the fundamental rights.
II. Maintain the status quo of the impugned Act since there is no violation of the
rights as alleged by the petitioners.
III. Pass any other order, which the court may deem fit in light of justice equity &
good conscience.
All of which is most humbly prayed
Counsel for the Respondent
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