India, Nov. 5 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected a petition by a 24-year-old unmarried woman seeking permission to terminate her unwanted pregnancy, which was in its 29th week.

A division bench of chief justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and justice Advait Sethna refused relief to the woman due to the advanced stage of pregnancy and a medical board's opinion that the foetus was likely to be born alive if the pregnancy was terminated at this stage.

The woman approached the court on October 29, after her pregnancy had crossed the 24-week limit prescribed under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act. The court directed a medical board at Grant Government Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals to examine her and submit...