Criminal Law
Causing Miscarriage and Offences against Pregnancy
Understand Causing Miscarriage and Offences against Pregnancy under BNS through clear legal rules, leading cases, practical examples and exam-ready revision.
Quick answer
Sections 88 to 92 punish unlawful miscarriage and specified harm to pregnancy while preserving acts done in good faith to save the pregnant person's life and lawful medical termination.
Rule and essential ingredients
Sections 88 to 92 punish unlawful miscarriage and specified harm to pregnancy while preserving acts done in good faith to save the pregnant person's life and lawful medical termination. Begin with the statutory language. Criminal liability follows only when the prosecution proves each required ingredient beyond reasonable doubt, subject to any applicable exception or statutory presumption.
Pregnancy and causation
The prosecution must prove pregnancy, the act causing miscarriage or specified outcome and the accused's required intention.
Consent
Miscarriage without the pregnant person's consent is treated more severely under Section 89.
Good-faith life exception
The statutory exception is tied to an act done in good faith to save life, while the MTP Act provides the wider lawful medical framework.
Application, limits and proof
A strong answer does not stop at a definition. It identifies the contested ingredient, compares the evidence with the statutory threshold and explains why nearby offences or defences do or do not apply.
Statutes read together
BNS cannot be read as cancelling lawful termination rights, gestational rules, medical opinions and emergency provisions under the MTP Act.
Different protected outcomes
Death caused during intended miscarriage, prevention of live birth and death of a quick unborn child are separate offences.
Landmark cases
Learn the facts, the rule and why the case matters. The citation alone will not strengthen an answer.
Suchita Srivastava v. Chandigarh Administration
(2009) 9 SCC 1Held: Reproductive choice forms part of personal liberty, bodily integrity and decisional autonomy.
Use in an answer: Use this authority to explain the controlling test for causing miscarriage and offences against pregnancy, then apply that test to the problem facts.
X v. Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department
2022 SCC OnLine SC 1321Held: MTP law must be applied consistently with reproductive autonomy and without unsupported marital-status distinctions.
Use in an answer: Use this authority to explain the controlling test for causing miscarriage and offences against pregnancy, then apply that test to the problem facts.
How to write this answer in an exam
- Open with the relevant BNS provision and its purpose.
- List the ingredients in the order in which they must be proved.
- Apply conduct, circumstances and mens rea separately.
- Address the closest distinction, defence or aggravated form.
- Conclude on liability and punishment without assuming disputed facts.
Quick revision
- Sections 88 to 92 punish unlawful miscarriage and specified harm to pregnancy while preserving acts done in good faith to save the pregnant person's life and lawful medical termination.
- The prosecution must prove pregnancy, the act causing miscarriage or specified outcome and the accused's required intention.
- Miscarriage without the pregnant person's consent is treated more severely under Section 89.
- BNS cannot be read as cancelling lawful termination rights, gestational rules, medical opinions and emergency provisions under the MTP Act.
- The prosecution ordinarily bears the burden of proving every ingredient beyond reasonable doubt.
Test yourself
- What is the central legal test for causing miscarriage and offences against pregnancy?
- Which fact establishes the required mental element?
- What nearby rule is most likely to be confused with this topic?
Frequently asked questions
What should an answer on causing miscarriage and offences against pregnancy prove first?
Start with the charged BNS provision and the conduct it prohibits. Then prove the required circumstances and mental state separately before discussing punishment or a defence.
Are older IPC judgments still useful after BNS?
Yes, where the BNS language and principle remain materially similar. The current BNS text must lead, and an older case should not override a changed definition, ingredient or punishment.