A man has moved the Allahabad High Court challenging his wife's right to abortion on the grounds of being physically unfit to deliver a baby.
He argued that his consent should be taken before any move by her in this regard.
The petitioner, Rajiv Nandi, filed a petition in the Lucknow bench of the High Court on Tuesday pleading that the consent of the father should be taken before termination of pregnancy by the mother under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971.
Nandi, who got married in November last year, challenged certain sections of the Act which empowers the wife to go for abortion if she is not medically fit to deliver the baby.
Nandi's wife is expecting and she wanted to get her pregnancy terminated.
He said the concept of fatherhood was similar to the concept of motherhood and the consent of the father must be made mandatory.
"The moment a woman conceives, the right of the father begins," said the petitioner, adding it would amount to violation of Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty) of the Constitution if the wife went ahead with abortion.
The petitioner has sought a direction from the court to the state and the Union governments to instruct all hospitals within their limits not to permit termination of pregnancy by his wife.
Nandi's lawyer Chandra Bhusan Pandey said the termination of pregnancy as such is prohibited under IPC and is alllowed only on medical grounds.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Thursday.