Plea in HC against termination of mentally challenged woman's

A day after the sessions court here allowed Gujarat government to terminate 15-week old pregnancy of a mentally-challenged woman, a city-based lawyer today challenged the order before the High Court.
The petition by Anand Brahmbhatt, who had appeared as an amicus curie before the sessions court, today came up before Justice Abhilasha Kumari who posted hearing to July 13.
The petition, filed through advocate Viashal Dave, said that "no law of the land can validate the order."
The sessions court had no jurisdiction to decide the issue and police never registered any FIR to investigate how the woman became pregnant, it said.

Yesterday, Additional Sessions Judge H J Joshi had allowed the state government's plea, noting that it was in the interest of the woman.
The woman, in her late 20s, was found on the street by police two months ago. She was sent to a government-run mental health centre in Meghaninagar here, where the medical check-up revealed that she was pregnant.

The government first approached the magistrate's court seeking permission for termination of pregnancy but the court rejected the application on the ground of jurisdiction.
The government then moved the sessions court, arguing that the woman will not be able to fulfil responsibilities of motherhood as she suffers from acute schizophrenia.

But advocate Anand Brahmbhatt had opposed it, saying that it was the state's responsibility to take care of the rights of the unborn child.