New Delhi, February 23 The Supreme Court on Monday said that discrimination against women, particularly against the girl child, is widely prevalent in several parts of the country, and female foeticide is a crude manifestation of this social malady.
A bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan refused to quash a case lodged against a radiologist from Gurugram for offences under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, and said that it cannot stop the trial against him.
"Discrimination against the girl child, and by extension, women, is still prevalent in several parts of the country. A crude and ugly manifestation of such a social malady is female foeticide. The first step towards committing such an offence is the determination of the sex of the fetus," the bench said.
It added that Parliament has stepped in not only to outlaw sex determination and selection but also to prohibit all related pre-conception and pre-natal techniques and procedures, making it mandatory to maintain the relevant record in the prescribed format.
"Failure to maintain the record in the prescribed form would be an offence under the PCPNDT Act and Rules. As far as the present case is concerned, prima facie, it has come to light that the appellant conducted ultrasonography on the pregnant woman.
"Whether or not he maintained the record as required under the law, in addition to not disclosing the sex of the fetus, is a matter for trial. Therefore, it is not a case where the trial should be stopped," the bench said.
Refusing to interfere with an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, it said that the case pending before the Gurugram judicial magistrate cannot be quashed.
"Therefore, no interference is necessary in the impugned judgment and order of the high court. However, we make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the allegations, and all arguments regarding the reliability and admissibility of evidence remain open," the apex court said.
However, it found fault with the procedure adopted in the raid conducted against the radiologist, saying that the civil surgeon is the chairperson of the District Appropriate Authority under the PCPNDT Act, but the communication issued by him does not indicate that a collective decision was taken by the authority to conduct a raid on the premises of the appellant, Naresh Kumar Garg.
"Nothing has been placed on record by the respondents to show that the members of the District Appropriate Authority had any meeting of mind on which the chairperson had issued the communication/order dated September 17, 2015.
"If that is the case, then the ratio in Ravindra Kumar (an earlier verdict) would apply to this case as well, on the basis of which the search carried out by the District Appropriate Authority, Gurugram, at Vatika Medicare – the premises where the appellant worked – would be illegal...," the bench said.
It said that the PCPNDT Act of 1994 was enacted to prohibit sex selection, leading to female foeticide, and aims to arrest the declining sex ratio in the country.
"The objectives of the PCPNDT Act declare that the Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception, and for the regulation of pre-natal diagnostic techniques to prevent their misuse for sex determination, leading to female foeticide, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto," it said.
Elaborating on the objective of the law, the bench said that a skewed sex ratio is likely to lead to greater incidences of violence against women and an increase in practices of trafficking and bride-buying.
"This is an effort to protect the girl child. The focus of the PCPNDT Act is to protect the right to life of the girl child under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the bench said, adding that the law was enacted with a view to prevent such a crime and align with the global perspective for a discrimination-free world.
