New Delhi : Supreme Court in a judgement directed the Registered Medical Practitioners(RMP) not to disclose the identity of minors who have come in for abortion to the police. A registered medical practitioner (RMP) is obliged under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act to report to the police when a minor approach them for an abortion. A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud observed “If there is an insistence on the disclosure of the name of the minor in the report under Section 19(1) of POCSO, minors may be less likely to seek out RMPs for safe termination of their pregnancies under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.”
The court said it was necessary to harmonise the provisions of the MTP and POCSO laws to enable minors to approach an RMP for abortion without the fear of getting exposed. It would also protect the statutory obligation of the RMP to report the offence under the POCSO Act and the rights of privacy and reproductive autonomy of the minor under Article 21 of the Constitution.