KOCHI: They longed to have a child, and underwent several years of treatment to realise the dream. However, the couple’s dreams were shattered when the husband was sentenced to life in a murder case in 2016 and sent to Thrissur’s Viyyur jail. The wife, a teacher, approached the High Court seeking his parole to undergo in-vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). In a rare gesture, the court accepted the petition and ordered a minimum of 15 days’ leave for the prisoner to undergo the treatment. The HC held that it could not shut its eyes to such a request on technicalities.
The petitioner submitted that after their marriage in 2012, she and her husband underwent various courses of treatment.
They took to allopathy when her husband got leave from prison. However, effective treatment will require three months of his presence. Although a request seeking to invoke section 73 of the Kerala Prisons and Correctional Services (Management) Act, 2010, for grant of parole was made, no action was taken by authorities.
A convict not entitled to all fundamental rights, says HC
The right of procreation is a fundamental right of the couple, the petitioner said. The court said a convict is not entitled to all the fundamental rights available under the Constitution. But the 31-year-old petitioner has approached the court saying she and her husband want a child of their own.
“...when a wife comes before the court with a request that she wants a child in the relationship with her husband who is undergoing imprisonment, the court cannot ignore the same on technicalities. Conviction and sentence in criminal cases is mainly to reform and rehabilitate the offenders.
The state and society want to see the convict coming out of jail after rejuvenation as a reformed man/woman who will be part of our society. A person who has undergone a sentence in a criminal case need not be treated as a different person when he comes out. He has every right to lead a decent life just like any other citizen,” held the High Court.