Every Pregnant Woman Deserves Dignity During Motherhood: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court granted a pregnant woman accused of kidnapping and attempted murder a three-month interim bail, stating that every pregnant woman deserves the dignity provided by the Constitution throughout pregnancy.

Giving birth to a child while in custody would not only be stressful for the mother, but also have a negative effect on the kid, according to Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta.

“It is important to recognise that a woman’s pregnancy is a unique situation since giving birth to a kid while in custody would be traumatising for both the mother and the child, who would then have long-lasting negative effects whenever his birth was brought up. Every expecting woman deserves the dignity guaranteed by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution during pregnancy, “In its order dated August 18, the court stated.

When deciding whether to release the petitioner on bond, “the Court is expected to take care of the interest of a youngster, who is not supposed to be exposed to prisons,” it added.

The court stated that under the criminal code, a person under the age of 16, a woman, or someone who is ill or infirm is exempt from the requirements that prevent them from being released on bond for certain crimes.

The jail rules also stipulate that, whenever possible, plans will be made for a short release to allow a prisoner to give birth in a hospital outside of the facility, it was stated.

The petitioner was directed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for delivery, the court also said, because there are no delivery facilities in the relevant jail, per the medical report.

The court ruled that because the petitioner is expecting a baby and is pregnant, she deserves to be released on interim bail for a period of three months starting from the day of release in exchange for submitting a personal bond in the amount of 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand Only) with one surety in the same amount to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court.

The prosecution opposed the petitioner’s request for interim bail for six months on the grounds that the petitioner’s pregnancy was not a valid defence for expanding bail for an individual charged with a heinous crime and that there was a significant security risk to the lives and safety of the victims.

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