The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to constitute an independent multidisciplinary Medical Board to decide, within four weeks, on parents’ request for a hysterectomy for their adult daughter with cerebral palsy, holding that disability alone can never be the only ground to deny reproductive autonomy and that its order is not an approval of the surgery.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Government of NCT of Delhi and the other respondents to constitute an independent multidisciplinary Medical Board to decide on a proposed hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus, for a young woman with cerebral palsy, while making clear that disability in itself can never be the only ground to deny reproductive autonomy or to approve the removal of a reproductive organ.
Justice Amit Mahajan passed the order on September 22, 2026 in W.P.(C) 4854/2024, a petition filed on the woman’s behalf by her parents. LawChakra is not naming her, in view of the medical and personal nature of the matter.
The petition
The petitioner, born in 2005, is stated to have cerebral palsy with moderate intellectual disability and a permanent, non-progressive disability. The parents’ case was that she is not in a fit state of mind to consent to surgery, and that the surgery is needed because she cannot manage herself or maintain menstrual hygiene during her menstrual cycles. They sought a direction to the respondents to consider performing a hysterectomy.
Counsel for the Delhi government submitted that the petitioner is being treated at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, Ashok Vihar, and that any such surgery can take place only after approval by a board of doctors.
The direction
The Court directed the respondents to constitute an independent multidisciplinary Medical Board and to take a decision on the surgery within four weeks.
The Court’s caution
Before disposing of the petition, the Court recorded that disability can never be the only ground to deny reproductive autonomy or to approve the removal of a reproductive organ. It said that such surgery can be adopted only if medical evaluation shows it is in the petitioner’s best interest, for the protection of her welfare and dignity.
The Court said it had merely permitted the constitution of a Medical Board to decide whether the surgery is required in view of the petitioner’s medical background. The order, it said, is not to be read as carte blanche or as approval of the surgery, since the opinion on it has to be formed by medical experts.
The order
The petition was disposed of on these terms.
Why it matters
The order leaves the decision on an irreversible procedure to an independent medical board and sets the test as the petitioner’s own best interest, welfare and dignity, and not her disability alone. It records that a person with a disability retains reproductive autonomy, and that a court’s permission to examine a surgery is not the same as approving it.
The Court did not decide whether the surgery should take place. That question rests with the Medical Board, on the medical evidence about this petitioner.
Case: W.P.(C) 4854/2024 (petitioner’s name withheld)
Bench: Justice Amit Mahajan, Delhi High Court
Date of Order: September 22, 2026
Appearances: Advocates Piyush Gupta, Mustafa Alam, Vipul Jain, Amit Garg and Liza appeared for the petitioner, and Nitika Bhutani appeared for the Government of NCT of Delhi.