Woman seeks to end pregnancy due to dispute with husband; Bombay HC sends couple for mediation

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has asked a couple to try and resolve their dispute amicably before it decides on a petition filed by the woman seeking to terminate her 20-week pregnancy on account of matrimonial problems.

A division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Pravin Patil in the order passed on January 27 said the dispute between the couple was not major, and could be resolved amicably.

The court directed the husband and wife to meet on the Pune magistrate court premises for three days this week and try to sort out their issues.

Lawyers on both the sides shall encourage them to seek reconciliation so that a "congenial atmosphere could be created keeping in view that if the child is born, it would be their first child," the judges said.

If necessary, services of a trained mediator shall be used to encourage the couple to trust each other for the sake of the child, the court said.

The woman approached the court earlier this month seeking to terminate her pregnancy, citing her strained relations with the husband.

The husband taunted her that he never wanted to marry her as he was in love with another woman, the petition said.

He even claimed that the baby that would be born was not his and he would not accept the child, the woman alleged.

The couple got married in May 2023. Subsequently, the woman filed a domestic violence complaint before a magistrate's court in Pune.

In his reply affidavit filed before the high court, the man denied the allegations in the petition.

They had a dispute, but he never refused to accept paternity of the child, nor did he question her character, he said, adding that he was more than willing to take care of the baby and the woman.

He and his parents tried to resolve the dispute amicably many times but his wife did not respond, he claimed.

The judges on Monday interacted with the man and the woman, and noted that both possess enough maturity to understand each other and resolve their problems.

"The wife has stated that if her husband was willing to take good care of the child and treat her properly then she has no reason to seek a medical termination of the pregnancy considering that if the child is born, it would be their first child," the HC said in the order.

Except for trifle misunderstandings and accusations such as the woman stays with her parents for too long or the husband always sides with his parents, there is no major problem between the couple, the judges noted.

The next hearing of the case would take place on February 6.