India, Nov. 3 -- The Supreme Court on Monday directed a man opposing his wife's plea to terminate her 25-week pregnancy to file an affidavit withdrawing all allegations made against her, including those circulated on a family WhatsApp group, while emphasising that a marital dispute or an exchange of harsh words cannot, by itself, become a ground to terminate a pregnancy.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan said the husband must express regret and apologise for the allegations, observing that the couple's differences had "snowballed" into a situation where the woman was seeking to terminate her first pregnancy despite there being no medical reason to do so.

The court posted the matter for November 4, allowing the husband to...