On July 21, 2009, the Supreme Court (SC) of India stayed the order of a division bench of the High Court (HC) of Punjab and Haryana in a civil writ petition filed by the Chandigarh administration. The Chandigarh administration had asked for orders in the case of a mentally challenged, 19-year-old woman who had become pregnant after she was sexually assaulted in a government institution. In its judgment the HC ordered that the woman should undergo a medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) and stated that this was in the best interests of the woman in question.