Maharashtra: Ayurveda doctor held for illegal abortion gets bail

AURANGABAD: The

Aurangabad

bench of the Bombay high court recently granted bail to an ayurveda doctor, who was arrested by the Ahmednagar police in June 2020, for the illegal termination of the pregnancy of a woman at his nursing home.


The Ayurveda practitioner, Shankarprasad Gandhe, had earlier approached the Ahmednagar sessions court seeking bail but it was rejected. He then approached the HC through lawyer Joydeep Chatterjee.

The Ahmednagar taluka police had raided the Gandhe Hospital and registered an offence against Gandhe under sections 312 (causing miscarriage), 313 (causing miscarriage without woman’s consent), 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.

Chatterjee pointed out to the court that the woman, who was about four months pregnant, was advised a sonography test by the primary health centre, Jakhangaon. She went to a hospital in Pune on June 19, 2020, where she underwent the test.

The radiologist reported that there was a deformity to the spinal cord and brain of the fetus and it was incorrigible and incurable. He handed over the sonography report to the woman, who left the hospital.

She told the police that on June 21, 2020, she had severe pain in her abdomen and, therefore, she visited the hospital of Gandhe. She has also stated to the police that after examining her, Gandhe told her that the foetus had died in the womb itself. He advised the woman and her mother either to go for further treatment in a private hospital or civil hospital.

But they refused as they could not afford expenses of a private hospital and didn’t want to go to the civic hospital amid Covid-19 pandemic. “In the meantime, her condition aggravated and the foetus began to come out and the doctor had to save her life and there was no time for formalities concerned,” Chatterjee said.

Taking note of these arguments and perusing the record, Justice V K Jadhav granted conditional bail to Gandhe and observed ``prima facie, it appears that the provisions of Sections 312, 313 and 315 of the Indian Penal Code are not applicable to the present set of facts. It is true that prima facie, it appears that the applicant is not a “registered medical practitioner” in terms of provisions of Section 2(d) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. However, it further appears that the applicant, in good faith of saving the life of the woman, got her admitted in his hospital and further treated her.”