National News
Rape to include marital rape for purpose of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act: SC
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that all women, including the unmarried, are entitled to safe and legal abortion, and also the meaning of rape must be understood as including marital rape, solely for the purposes of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and any rules and regulations framed thereunder.
And, married women may also form part of the class of survivors of sexual assault or rape, it added.
A bench, headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, said it is not inconceivable that married women become pregnant as a result of their husbands having “raped” them and the nature of sexual violence and the contours of consent do not undergo a transformation when one decides to marry.
“The institution of marriage does not influence the answer to the question of whether a woman has consented to sexual relations. If the woman is in an abusive relationship, she may face great difficulty in accessing medical resources or consulting doctors,” it added.
The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and J.B. Pardiwala, said the state has a positive obligation under Article 21 of the Constitution to protect the right to health, and particularly reproductive health of individuals.
“Married women may also form part of the class of survivors of sexual assault or rapea… A woman may become pregnant as a result of non-consensual sexual intercourse performed upon her by her husband. We would be remiss in not recognising that intimate partner violence is a reality and can take the form of rape,” said Justice Chandrachud, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench.
It added that the misconception that strangers are exclusively or almost exclusively responsible for sex- and gender-based violence is a deeply regrettable one.
The bench said that there is no requirement that an FIR must be registered or the allegation of rape must be proved in a court of law or some other forum before it can be considered true for the purposes of the MTP Act.
Emphasising that the right to dignity encapsulates the right of every individual to be treated as a self-governing entity having intrinsic value, it added that in the context of abortion, the right to dignity entails recognising the competence and authority of every woman to take reproductive decisions, including the decision to terminate the pregnancy.
“The right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the state is central to the idea of human dignity. Deprivation of access to reproductive healthcare or emotional and physical wellbeing also injures the dignity of women,” it added.
Justice Chandrachud said if women with unwanted pregnancies are forced to carry their pregnancies to term, the state would be stripping them of the right to determine the immediate and long-term path their lives would take.
“Depriving women of autonomy not only over their bodies but also over their lives would be an affront to their dignity. The right to choose for oneself – be it as significant as choosing the course of one’s life or as mundane as one’s day-to-day activities – forms a part of the right to dignity,” he added, in the 75-page verdict.
The bench said the law should not decide the beneficiaries of a statute based on narrow patriarchal principles about what constitutes “permissible sex”, which create invidious classifications and excludes groups based on their personal circumstances.
“The rights of reproductive autonomy, dignity, and privacy under Article 21 give an unmarried woman the right of choice on whether or not to bear a child, on a similar footing of a married woman, “it added.
The object of Section 3(2)(b) of the MTP Act read with Rule 3B is to provide for abortions between 20 and 24 weeks, rendered unwanted due to a change in the material circumstances of women.
“In view of the object, there is no rationale for excluding unmarried or single women (who face a change in their material circumstances) from the ambit of Rule 3B. A narrow interpretation of Rule 3B, limited only to married women, would render the provision discriminatory towards unmarried women and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,” said Justice Chandrachud.
The bench said importantly, it is the woman alone who has the right over her body and is the ultimate decisionmaker on the question of whether she wants to undergo an abortion. “In order to avail the benefit of Rule 3B(a), the woman need not necessarily seek recourse to formal legal proceedings to prove the factum of sexual assault, rape or incest,” said the bench.
On July 21, the top court had allowed a 25-year-old to abort her 24-week pregnancy arising out of a consensual relationship. In the judgment, the top court dealt with various aspects of the issue, including forced pregnancy. The woman had moved challenged the Delhi High Court, which refused to entertain her request to terminate her 24-week foetus, under Rule 3B, dealing with categories of women entitled to abortion, of the MTP Rules, 2003.
National News
Congress social media chief faces BJP heat over ‘false’ claims on flag hoisting during I-Day celebrations

New Delhi, Aug 16: Congress social media chairperson and Working Committee member Supriya Shrinate is in the eye of storm over circulation of two old videos pertaining to 80th Independence Day celebrations while alleging that the BJP leaders hoisted party flags instead of the Tricolour on the occassion.
The BJP quickly fact-checked the claims, stating that neither of the videos were related to Independence Day events.
Shrinate had claimed that one of the videos was from Chhattisgarh, while the other was from West Bengal. In the first instance, she shared a video purportedly showing BJP workers raising the party flag instead of the national flag at Swami Vivekanand Mangal Bhavan in Kurud, located in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh.
“For 53 years, their ancestors boycotted the Tricolour — even today, they never tire of insulting the national flag,” the Congress leader wrote in a post on X while sharing the video.
Following the post, the BJP filed an FIR against Shrinate over the allegation and accused her of using an old video and presenting it as footage from the Independence Day celebrations.
Former Chhattisgarh Minister and senior BJP leader Ajay Chandrakar strongly criticised Shrinate and said, “The Independence Day program is of national importance. It is celebrated in governmental and personal capacities both in the country and abroad. The Congress Party has used the national festival as a medium to defame the BJP.”
“The BJP organisation of Dhamtari district has, by filing an FIR, demanded action against Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Supriya Shrinate, and Pawan Khera as well. Immediate action should be taken on this,” he added.
Chandrakar himself hoisted the national flag at the official district-level Independence Day ceremony in Dhamtari. Subsequent clarifications established that the video shared by Shrinate was from a BJP event held at the same venue in March this year, during which the party flag had been raised.
Shrinate also shared another video while making a similar allegation. In her post, she claimed that West Bengal Labour and Transport Minister Arjun Singh had raised a BJP flag instead of the Tricolour and described him as a “galeech deshdrohi” (a wretched traitor).
However, the second video was also found to be old and unrelated to the Independence Day celebrations.
Responding to Shrinate’s allegation, Singh said, “This video is not from the Independence Day programme. The video is from the inauguration of my office in Barrackpore, which took place on 6th July, 2026, on the birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Ji.”
“The parties and some individuals spreading such fake narrative and propaganda should have verified the facts before circulating it and should have corrected their mistake. It is such disgraceful action, highly condemnable. I am going to take legal action against the parties and persons for deliberately spreading propaganda against me,” he added.
Congress is yet to respond to these remarks.
Crime
Trinamool-linked woman panchayat chief among 3 arrested in Bengal Cong leader murder case (Lead)

Kolkata, Aug 16: The police on Sunday arrested three persons, including one Trinamool Congress village panchayat chief, in connection with the murder of a Congress leader, Anisur Rahman, and his 24-year-old son Abu Sufian at Bethuadahari under Nakashipara Police Station in West Bengal’s Nadia district.
The incident had happened late Saturday night. Fatema Bibi, the head of Haranagar village panchayat in Nadia district, was one of the three persons arrested here. Her husband, Jubbar Sheikh, an influential Trinamool leader in the area, has been in judicial custody, and the local Congress leadership accused him of being the mastermind behind the murders of Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian.
In addition, two of Fatema’s associates, namely Ali Mandal and Mithun Sheikh, have also been arrested. They have already been produced in the court after a medical examination in the morning. The police have sought custody for three of them.
It is learnt that Anisur Rahman and Abu Sufian were returning home in a four-wheeler on Saturday night. At that time, the miscreants blocked their road and allegedly fired several rounds of bullets. The car was forcibly stopped, and the father and son were beaten with sharp weapons. According to sources, both died on the spot due to excessive bleeding.
After receiving information about this incident, the police from the Nakashipara police station reached the spot.
The Congress leadership in the Nadia district has claimed that the country’s oldest national party was fast occupying the principal opposition space in the district after the landslide defeat of the previous ruling party, Trinamool Congress, in the recently concluded Assembly polls.
“Anisur Rahman and his son were playing the key role in regaining our party’s space as the principal opposition force in the state. That is exactly why the father and the son became an eyesore for the local Trinamool Congress leadership, especially Fatema Bibi and his currently jailed husband, who had always been involved with all sorts of notorious and anti-social activities in the district. But no one expected that the sequence of events would take such a nasty turn. It was not just a simple murder. The assassin rather wanted to leave a message through the ghastly manner in which the father and his son were killed,” said a local Congress leader.
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee was observing a ‘black day’ throughout the state as a mark of protest against the assassination. Both the current and former state Congress presidents, Suvankar Sarkar and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, have demanded a speedy probe in the matter and the strictest punishment for those involved in the murder.
Crime
MCD sanitation worker stabbed to death in Delhi Kalyanpuri; accused at large

New Delhi, Aug 16: A sanitation worker employed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was stabbed to death while on duty in Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area on Sunday morning.
CCTV footage reportedly shows the accused attacking the sanitation worker with a knife. A Delhi Police team is currently examining the footage and other evidence to trace the assailant.
The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Anil Kumar, an MCD sanitation worker. According to preliminary information, Anil was performing his duties in Kalyanpuri around 7 a.m. on Sunday when he was attacked with a knife, officials said.
The accused fled the scene after the incident.
Upon receiving the information, the police arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. Officials said that multiple teams have been formed to apprehend the accused using the CCTV footage.
Following the incident, BJP Trilokpuri MLA Ravi Kant visited the site and condoled the death of the worker.
Speaking to media , he described it as a “deeply tragic” event. “While the rest of Delhi sleeps, it is these workers who perform the task of waking the city up. We stand in solidarity with the victim’s family,” he said.
The BJP MLA stated that the perpetrator has been identified and that strict action will be taken against him.
Kant further said, “I have seen the CCTV footage. Anil was doing his job when the accused suddenly approached and attacked him.”
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar spoke to media, stating, “A sanitation worker was brazenly murdered in Kalyanpuri. Has Kalyanpuri become the crime capital? Murders are taking place all over Delhi.”
“Think about the plight of the family of a sanitation worker who performs his job. When he collects garbage, it is not because he enjoys the work; due to financial circumstances and the inability to find other employment, he is compelled to collect garbage. He has been murdered,” Kumar said.
He further demanded a police encounter of the accused to “set a precedent and ensure no one else commits such a crime”.
The AAP MLA also demanded that the victim’s family be provided with compensation and that a family member be given a job.
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