Bombay High Court seeks State's reply on compliance with Supreme Court's two-finger test ban

The Bombay High Court at Nagpur recently directed the Maharashtra state government to respond to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions regarding the removal of unscientific "two-finger test" or virginity test from the medical curriculum. [Smita Sarode Singalkar v Maharashtra University of Health Sciences].The petitioner, Smita Singalkar, moved the Court raising concerns about the test being included in the MBBS syllabus, arguing that it violates the right to privacy of sexual assault survivors and is morally and scientifically indefensible.The Bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Vrushali Joshi, while hearing the petition, emphasized the importance of the State’s adherence to the Supreme Court's 2022 judgment in State of Jharkhand vs. Shailendra Kumar Rai..In that judgment, the apex court had directed both the Union and State governments to ensure compliance with the Centre's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's guidelines on the eradication of the two-finger test and other invasive practices from the medical examination of sexual assault survivors. It also called for workshops for the health care providers and the review of medical curriculum to prevent the inclusion of such 'unscientific' and 'discriminatory' practices..In the present case, the High Court noted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Medical Commission (NMC) had already taken steps to revise the curriculum for second-year MBBS students. The NMC’s guidelines issued on August 18, 2022 instructed that the two-finger test should be removed from medical practice and that students should be educated on the unscientific basis of such tests.In light of the guidelines, the Court noted that the primary respondent Maharashtra University of Health Sciences has already modified its second year anatomy curriculum for MBBS. The modified curriculum equips medical professionals to explain the legitimacy and unscientific nature of virginity tests, including the two-finger test on female genitaliaIn light of this, the Court sought a response from the State government and the respondent university within two weeks, specifically requesting information on the actions taken to comply with the Supreme Court's directions. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 9..Advocate Renuka Sirpurkar appeared for the petitioner.Additional Government Pleader DP Thakare appeared for the State.Advocate Abhijit Deshpande appeared for the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences.Advocate Rahul Bhangade appeared for the Union government..[Read Order]