A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday pronounced a split verdict on the Centre's plea for recall of its October 9 order granting permission to a married woman, a mother of two, to terminate her 26-week pregnancy, with one judge voicing her disinclination to allow abortion and the other asserting that the woman's decision "must be respected".
While Justice Hima Kohli wondered which court will say "stop the heartbeat of a foetus" and made it clear she was not inclined to permit the 27-year-old woman to terminate her pregnancy, Justice B V Nagarathna said the court should respect the decision of the woman who has remained determined to abort it.
In view of the disagreement between them, the two judges of the bench, which had passed the October 9 order, decided to place the Centre's application before Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud for being marked to an appropriate bench for adjudication.