MP: Woman seeks husband’s release from jail to 'bear child', court asks for her health report

Bhopal, Nov 2:  The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently directed the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Medical College in Jabalpur to examine the health of a woman to find out if she is fit to conceive.

The court was hearing a writ-petition filed by the woman wherein she demanded the release of her husband from jail saying that she wants to bear a child, citing procreation as her "fundamental right".

The petition's arguments prompted the bench of Justice Vivek Agrawal to direct the dean of the government medical college in Jabalpur to constitute a five-member panel of doctors to examine whether the woman is fit to conceive and submit the report within the next 15 days.

Subodh Kathar, the government counsel, said, “The husband of the petitioner is in a jail in a criminal case. The woman wants to conceive, for which she has claimed that procreation is her fundamental right citing a Rajasthan High Court order in the case of Nand Lal vs. State, Department of Home, and others."

Kathar, however, claimed the woman has passed the age of menopause as per her records and therefore there is no possibility of any conception, either naturally or through artificial insemination.

In its order, the court said there is a requirement of a medical report from a team of experts as to whether the petitioner is medically fit to conceive.

“The dean shall constitute a team of five doctors - three gynaecologists, one psychiatrist and another endocrinologist - to examine whether petitioner is fit to conceive. The dean shall submit the report within 15 days,” the court said, adding that the “petitioner is directed to appear before the dean of the medical college on November 7".