India, Nov. 7 -- The Bombay High Court has allowed a 54-year-old woman to pursue motherhood through surrogacy even though the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 caps the intending mother's age at 50 years, ruling that a woman cannot be denied the fundamental right to motherhood solely based on the statutory age limit under the law.

A division bench of justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish S Chavan on Wednesday observed that the eligibility criteria under the law must be interpreted positively by considering the intending couple as a "composite unit" and they "should not be put in a disadvantageous position" because one spouse has crossed the age limit.

The judges quashed the Nashik Municipal Corporation's order rejecting the couple's applica...