Strict action against errant docs, tab on diagnostic centres must to curb female foeticide: panel...

7/25/2019 Strict action against errant docs, tab on diagnostic centres must to curb female foeticide: panel to SC

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 349/2006

IN THE MATTER OF:

VOLUNTARY HEALTH ASSOCIATIONOF PUNJAB PETITIONER

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA & ORS. RESPONDENTS

SUGGESTIONS BY MR.SANJAY PARIKH,ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF DR. SABUMATHEW GEORGE (INTERVENOR) ANDVARSHA DESHPANDE(INTERVENOR), BOTH

MEMBERS OF NATIONAL INSPECTION ANDMONITORING COMMITTEE(NIMC)

1. Non-implementation of the directions given inCEHAT & Ors. & Union of India & Ors., 2003(8) SCC398

These written submissions have been filed pursuant to the

order dated 17.11.2015 by this Honble Court. It may be

stated at the outset that this Honble Court has been

sincerely concerned about effective implementation of the

provisions of the PC-PNDT Act and Rules, 1994 (as

amended in 2002). In Writ Petition (C) 301/2000, filed by

Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT,

MASUM and Dr.Sabu George), this Honble Court had given

several orders from 4 May, 2001 onwards culminating into


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the final order dated 10.09.2003 reported in CEHAT & Ors.

& Union of India & Ors., 2003(8) SCC 398. Along with the

main judgment, orders dated 04.05.2001, 07.11.2001,

11.12.2001 and 31.03.2003 were appended.

Following directions given in Para 6 of the said judgment

have either not been implemented or there is lack of

effective implementation.:

6(a) For effective implementation of the Act, informationshould be published by way of advertisements as well as onelectronic media. This process should be continued till thereis awareness in the public that there should not be anydiscrimination between male and female child.

With regard to the above direction, it is submitted that the

advertisements and other publications made in the

newspapers as well as in electronic media at present are

not effective and adequate, in as much as they lack in

conveying the spirit of the PC-PNDT Act and that elimination

of discrimination against the girl child should be the prime

objective. It is, therefore, submitted that the

advertisements and other publications in the

newspapers/magazines/electronic media, etc. should be

consistent with the provisions of the PC-PNDT Act

throughout all the States/UTs and that the material for such

publications/advertisements should be prepared by the

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in

consultation with the Central Supervisory Board and


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members of those civil societies who are consistently

working in this field so that the dissemination of information

focusses on the elimination of discrimination and effective

implementation of the Act. All national and state initiative

such as Beti Bachao-Beti Padao should concentrate on

implementation of PC-PNDT Act.

6(b) Quarterly reports by the appropriate authority, whichare submitted to the Supervisory Board should beconsolidated and published annually for information of thepublic at large.

This direction has not been implemented. For effective

implementation of the said direction, quarterly reports by

Appropriate Authorities should be submitted to the

respective State Supervisory Boards and the State

Supervisory Boards, after consolidating them and taking

necessary action, should submit it to the Central

Supervisory Board along with the Action Taken Report. The

Central Supervisory Board should publish the said report

annually, after issuing such directions as may be required

generally for all the States/UTs and also specifically for a

State/UT. This Annual Report should contain all the

information which provisions of the PC-PNDT Act and Rules

require.

6(d) The National Inspection and Monitoring Committeeconstituted by the Central Government for conductingperiodic inspection shall continue to function till the Act iseffectively implemented. The reports of this Committee be


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placed before the Central Supervisory Board and StateSupervisory Boards for any further action.

This Honble Court constituted the NIMC as it would give

and independent view to the Union Government and to this

Honble Court after visiting States/UTs. However, the NIMC

was not constituted consistently after the 2003 judgment.

At times, no NIMC existed for several years. The NIMC has

been submitting its reports to the Central Government but

there has largely been non-compliance of its

suggestions/recommendations. This is, one, among several

reasons why implementation of the Act continues to be

ineffective. It may be pointed out that the Applicants are

members of the NIMC and are seriously concerned about

proper consideration and action taken based on the reports

submitted by them to the Centre on particular States/UTs.

The following suggestions are, therefore, made to make the

monitoring by NIMC effective:

I. NIMC should consist of representatives of civil

societies, representatives of the Union of India

from Women and Child Development Ministry,

Health and Family Welfare Ministry as well as the

Law and Justice Ministry.

II. There should be a minimum of 2 visits of NIMC

to each State/UT annually.


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III. The NIMC should submit its report to the

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The

MoHFW shall send the NIMC report to the State

Supervisory Boards, as well as the concerned

Health Departments. The concerned SSB will

submit Action taken Report to the MOHFW as

well as to the CSB. The MOHFW and CSB will

issue such directions as may be required in

relation to the concerned State/UT.

IV. The National inspection and Monitoring

Committee has faced several difficulties during

their visits to different states. In future, the Chief

Secretaries of respective states, which the NIMC

proposes to visit, should be informed in advance

regarding the visit so that appropriate security

arrangements are made for the members of

NIMC in order to discharge their functions. There

have been several instances of NIMC being

prevented from inspection of clinic in recent

years for example, in Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, etc.

V. The nominees of agencies like IRA / FOGSI

should not be made ex-officio members of NIMC

because these medical associations have not


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been fully co-operative in implementation of the

PC-PNDT Act in the past; the IRIA has

repeatedly challenged the constitutional validity

of several beneficial sections of the PCPNDT Act.

VI. The State/UT and District/Sub-District

appropriate authorities should be directed to

ensure that clinics/centres, etc. under the Act

are opened, if required, so that the inspections /

surprise visit of the NIMC are not rendered futile

due to premises of such clinics/centres proposed

to be inspected being kept closed.

VII. All States/UTs should be directed to file Action

Taken Reports to this Honble Court on all NIMC

recommendatons since the last judgment of this

Honble Court in March 2013.

2. Clarification of the directions given in judgment

dated 04.05.2013, Voluntary Health Association of

India v. Union of India,2013 (4) SCC 1

This Hon'ble Court by the judgment dated 4 March, 2013, in

Voluntary Health Association of India v. Union of India,

2013(4) SCC 1 has given several directions for effective

implementation of the Act/Rules. After going through these

directions carefully, as well as the provisions of the PC-


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PNDT Act & Rules, the following clarifications and

suggestions are required.

For convenience, the following chart has been prepared

showing the directions given in the judgment and the

clarifications which are prayed for:


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No

1.

Direction

The Central Supervisory

Board and the State and

Union Territories

Supervisory Boards,

constituted under Sections7

and 16A of PC&PNDT Act,

would meet at least once in

six months, so as to

supervise and oversee how

effective is the

implementation of the

PC&PNDT Act.

Clarification Sought

Under Section 9(1) proviso,

The Board (Central

Supervisory Board) shall

meet at least once in 6

months. However, the State

Supervisory Board (SSB),

constituted under 16A,

should meet at least once in

4 months, as per 16-A(3).

It may be clarified that the

Statute requires SSB to meet

once in 4 months to prepare

consolidated reports under

Section 16A(1)(iv) and the

decisions taken therein are

submitted before the CSB

which meets once in 6

months.

2 The State Advisory

Committees and District

Advisory Committees should

gather information relating

to the

breach of the provisions of

the PC&PNDT Act and the

Rules and take steps to

seize records, seal machines

and institute legal

proceedings, if they notice

violation of the provisions of

the PN&PNDT Act.

Under Section 17 read with

Section 17(A) of the Act,

powers have been given to

the Appropriate Authority for

summoning of any person,

production of any document

or material object and issuing

search warrant and not to

the State and District

Advisory Committee. Section

17(4)(c) gives powers to the

Appropriate Authority to

investigate complaints to the


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breach of the provisions of

the Act or the Rules made

there under and takeimmediate action as well as

Section 17(4)(g) to

supervise the implementation

of the provisions of the Act

and Rules. Section 30 gives

powers to the AppropriateAuthority to search and seize

records; further Rule 11

gives powers for inspections

and Rule 12 powers for

search and seizure. Nowhere

in the Act or Rules thesepowers are given to the

State/District Advisory

Committees.

3. The Committees mentioned

above should report the

details of the chargesframed and the conviction

of the persons who have

committed the offence, to

the State Medical Councils

for proper action, including

suspension of the

registration of the unit and

cancellation of license to

practice.

The word Committees need

to be replaced by the word

Appropriate Authority asunder Section 23(2) of the

Act it is the Appropriate

Authority which has been

given power to report to the

State Medical Council. Under

Section 23(2) The name of

the registered medical

practitioner shall be reported

by the Appropriate Authority

to the State Medical Council

concerned...


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4. The authorities should

ensure also that all Genetic

Counseling Centers, GeneticLaboratories and Genetic

Clinics, Infertility Clinics,

Scan Centers etc. using

preconception and pre-natal

diagnostic techniques and

procedures should maintainall records and all forms

required to be maintained

under the Act and the Rules

and the duplicate copies of

the same be sent to the

concerned DistrictAuthorities, in accordance

with Rule 9(8) of the

Rules.

The word Authorities and

District Authorities need to

be replaced by the wordAppropriate authority.

5. States and District Advisory

Boards should ensure that

all manufacturers andsellers of ultra-sonography

machines do not sell any

machine to any unregistered

centre, as provided under

Rule 3-A and disclose, on a

quarterly basis, to the

concerned State/Union

Territory and Central

Government, a list of

persons to whom the

machines have been sold, in

The relevant provisions of the

Act and Rules are: Section 3-

B and Rule 3-A(2). Rule 3-A(3) provides for submission

of affidavits by the Genetic

Counselling Centres, Genetic

Laboratories and Genetic

Clinics, Ultrasound Clinic and

Imaging Centres or any other

body or person registered

under the Act for purchasing

or getting authorization to the

manufacturer/importer/dealer

,etc.


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accordance with Rule 3-A(2)

of the Act.

The Directions may be

appropriately clarified by

giving responsibility ofensuring the implementation

of these specific provisions to

the Central Government and

concerned State/UT

Appropriate Authority and not

to State and District AdvisoryBoards as per Rule 3-A(2).

6. There will be a direction to

all Genetic Counselling

Centers, GeneticLaboratories, Clinics etc. to

maintain Forms A, E, H and

other Statutory forms

provided under the Rules

and if these forms are not

properly maintained,appropriate action should be

taken by the authorities

concerned.

The Forms to be maintained

by the Genetic Counselling

Centers, Genetic Laboratoriesand Genetic Clinics, Infertility

Clinics, Scan Centres under

Section 4(3 proviso) read with

Section 29, and Rules

9(2),(3),(4),(5) and Rule 10

are Forms D,E,F,G & H. Andtherefore in place of A,E,H

the Forms D, E, F, G & H to

be substituted. There is a

need to give further direction

to every Genetic Counseling

Centers, Genetic Laboratoriesand Genetic Clinics, Infertility

Clinics, Scan Centres that

they shall maintain a register

as provided under Rule 9(1).


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With regard to Direction 8 and 9 in the order dated

March 4, 2013 the following suggestions are given:

No. Directions Suggestions

9. Steps should be taken by

the State Governments and

the Union Territories to

In addition to educating the

people, the training of

Appropriate Authorities &

7. Steps should also be taken

by the State Government

and the authorities under

the Act for mapping of all

registered and unregistered

ultra-sonography clinics, in

three months time.

No suggestion.

8. The authorities concerned

should take steps to seize

the machines which have

been used illegally and

contrary to the provisions of

the Act and the Rul

es

thereunder and the seized

machines can also be

confiscated under the

provisions of the Code of

Criminal Procedure and be

sold, in accordance with

law.

The word Authorities should

read as Appropriate

Authority.


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educate the people of the

necessity of implementing

the provisions of the Act byconducting workshops as

well as awareness camps at

the State and District

levels.

Advisory committee members,

public prosecutors, judicial

officers at all levels isrequired. The directions may

be given to State and National

Judicial Academies, Union and

State/UT Health Departments

and Union and State/UT Law

& Judiciary as well asDepartments of Prosecution.

10. Special Cell be constituted

by the State Governments

and the Union Territories to

monitor the progress ofvarious cases pending in

the Courts under the Act

and take steps for their

early disposal.

The information collected

regarding pending/disposed of

cases by the State

Governments/Union Territoriesbe provided to the MoHFW as

well as the CSB for such

measures as may be required

for effective implementation of

the Act/Rules.

3. Registration of Births

1.

There should be a uniform implementation of registration of

births all over the Country, as provided under the

Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969. The data

collected by the States/UTs should be provided to the State

Supervisory Boards, who should share it with Central

Supervisory Boards. The State of Kerala provides details of

all births and other vital information on a website known as


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a Sevana website (cr.lsgkerala.gov.in) which can be

accessed by all. This was pointed out to this Honble Court

and is recorded in the order dated 16.09.2014.

8. The Sevana website, accessed at

www.cr.lsgkerala.gov.in maintained by the Kerala

Government (Local self government Department)

provides details of all births and other vital statis

tics

which are electronically registered by the Local

Governments in the registration units. Kerala was the

first State in India to have a centralized database of

civil registration records from all registration units.

This initiative of the Kerala Government has received

wide acclaim. Thereby from the website we get

information regarding the number of boys and girls

being born.

Public display of birth data sex-wise provides

transparency about the performance of each State,

District and sub-District in respect to the actual births

and therefore, helps to highlight any potential mal-

practice of sex determination. This public knowledge

may dissuade both the unethical medical

professionals and the general public in the long run

from committing crimes of sex determination and sex

selective abortion. As no community would like to be


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stigmatized in the public domain year after year for

crimes of sex determination or sex selection

committed secretly.

9. That below are details of some of the information

displayed on the website:

i) The birth information is summarised for the State.

And for each unit, District, Municipality, Corporation

or Gram Panchayat level data can be obtained by

clicking the map.

ii) Graphs provide a visual comparison of boys and

girls born over the past three years.

iii) This is available at the State, District and other

local body levels.

This Honble Court by order dated 13.01.2015 directed:

At this juncture, it is submitted by Mr. Sanjay

Parekh, learned counsel appearing for the applicant

that in certain cases, the figures that are collected as

regards the birth of children are not put on the web

site . It is directed that the said figures/data shall be

put on the Government website and the said website

shall be adequately publicized.


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There should be a direction to all the States/UTs to

follow the Kerala model and put the data on the

respective Governments websites.

4. Training / Orientation / Skill Building

I. There should be periodic orientation programmes /

trainings for appropriate authorities regarding

procedures like search and seizure and other

aspects

relating to investigation and collection of evidence.

II. Trainings about PCPNDT Act must be organised for

other authorities such as public prosecutors, lawyers,

judges, police personnel and the media

5. Prosecution

I. The Director of Public Prosecution of each State

should participate in the State Supervisory Board

Meetings to ensure that there is convergence of

thought process between Advisory Agencies and the

implementation agencies.

II. There has to be coordination between Chief Public

Prosecutor and District Appropriate Authorities on

individual cases. It would be in the fitness of things if

there is a Nodal Officer appointed for every district

who can act as a Liaison Officer between the

appropriate authority and the public prosecutors. The


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Nodal Officer apart from sharing of information can

also monitor court cases on monthly basis. Relevant

extracts from an NIMC report of a special visit to Bihar

ordered by this Honble Court in 2015 is quoted

below:

Our visit to four Districts revealed that the

information submitted is incomplete for threeDistricts (excepting Patna) in the Bihar State

Affidavits. Too often cases are filed by District

authorities and forgotten. There does not

appear to be follow up of all the pending cases

in the Court with the exception of Patna

District.

III. There should not be a frequent change of the public

prosecutors (in Delhi it has been found that one of the

major problems resulting in delay in cases has been

frequent change of additional public prosecutors).

IV. Appointment of Special Public Prosecutor for serious

and sensitive cases under the PC-PNDT Act.

V. Appropriate Authorities take action Under Section 20

of the PCPNDT Act for suspension and even

cancellation of registration but do not follow up by

taking action U/s.23. The Appropriate Authorities

should be directed to file cases whenever any

violation occurs and not soft peddle by mere


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suspending or cancelling registration. Relevant

extracts from an NIMC report of a special visit to

Punjab in 2015 which highlights the inaction is quoted

below:

However, we are disappointed that despite

several hundred notices and about 100+

suspensions that there are so few cases filed.

For instance in the past three years (2013-14,

2014-15 and 2015-16 till June) only a total of

8 cases were launched whereas at least sixty

thousand medical crimes take place every year

in Punjab. Thus there is practically no

deterrence in the State against medical crimes

of sex determination/sex selection. The

disturbing practice is that 42 cancellations

have taken place in the above period. Thus

these violators go scot free from the criminal

law because the provisions of PC-PNDT Act

are not followed in the State! Another reason

for unethical medical professionals to have

contempt for law. It will be interesting to find

out how many of these affected Doctors and

clinics have subsequently resurrected to be

registered again to do prenatal diagnostic

techniques.

6. Justice Delivery System

I. Each district should have designated Fast Track Court

headed by a Judicial Magistrate First Class to

exclusively deal with PCPNDT cases.


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II. In Rajasthan out of 67 cases of conviction, in 52 cases

the accused have been set free under provision for

good conduct by mere admonition and not awarded

any punishment. In two cases it has been found that

the accused has been detained till the rising of the

court and was only asked to pay a penalty of

Rs.1,000/- as fine. The above reflects as to how the

provisions of the Act are implemented.

7. Inspections / Monitoring

I. There must be Inspections by

Appropriate Authority of

all registered centers, unregistered centers, operating

ultra sound machines as per Rule 18-A(8) of the

PCPNDT Act as it has been found that regular

inspections of centers has led to detection of

illegalities and consequent filing of cases.

II. A common uniform inspection format that objectively

capture violations has to be developed for each state

(Infact in Delhi the state Supervisory Board has

prepared a common format and shared with all

districts along with dos and donts of inspection).

8. Informer Scheme


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I. Awards and rewards to be given to the General Public

for providing information to the appropriate

authorities. In M.P., an award of Rs.50,000/- in cash

is given to members of the public, if a challan is

issued on the basis of the information provided and

another Rs.50,000/- on conviction. In Haryana, there

is an informer scheme wherein 13 people were

awarded money in the last two years for providing

information to the appropriate authorities. It should

be ensured that the amount is not given to the

informers until final disposal of the matters or until

conviction is done so that the accused cannot use that

as a defence by insinuating that informers have given

false information for the money. It is also preferable

that the award or the name of the informer are not

made public.

9. Awareness Programmes

Awareness programmes in rural areas should be done

with aid of Aaganwadi workers or Asha as they are

the ones who are regularly in touch with rural women

and children giving information about the health and

nutrition etc. Awareness should be created in the


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public domain about the offences and penalties under

the PC-PNDT Act.

10. Legal Issues

I. Implementation of Rule 18-A(inserted with effect from

26.02.2014). A copy of Rule 18-A is enclosed.

This rule has been inserted after thoroughly considering the

existing provisions of the Act/Rules and the

difficulties

which were encountered and experience gained during the

process of implementation of law. It is submitted that if the

rule is followed in its letter and spirit, it will go a long way in

the effective implementation of the provisions of the Act,

which will have a positive impact on reducing the

occurrence of sex determination and reducing sex-selective

abortion. It is also submitted that as per the contents of

Rule 18-A(3)(iii), cognizance should be taken in 24 hours

and the investigations should be completed within 48 hours

of receipt of the complaint.

II. The violation of Section 4(3) proviso is not linked with

offences and penalties provided under Section 23 and 24. It

is invariably linked with Section 25 which provides only for

fine. In gross violations of PC-PNDT Act, only fine is

awarded by the Courts. This aspect is required to be

addressed and clarified.


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III. Even when the Appropriate Authorities find an offence

under Section 4(3) proviso or under Section 5 or 6 has been

committed, they do not take composite action under

Section 20 which relates to cancellation or suspension of

registration along with prosecution under Section 22, 23, 25

or 26, as the case may be. It is submitted that if an offence

is committed, the Appropriate Authority should take action

under Section 20 for suspension or cancellation of

registration and proceed with prosecution of the offender by

conducting investigation, i.e., search, seizure and

inspection. The complaint filed by the Appropriate Authority

before the Court should contain all the papers of

investigation- search, seizure, panchnama,

suspension/cancellation, show cause notice, if given,

inspection report, and all the other necessary documents.

IV. The seizure of ultrasound machine under Section 30

read with Rule 12 should be treated as the seizure of the

material object. It should be confiscated as provided

under Rule 11(2) and further action should be taken as per

Section 23 of the Act. The seized ultrasonography machine

should be kept as part of court records as provided under

Section on 29 until final disposal of the proceedings. The

final disposal of the proceedings should include appeal as


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well as proceedings under Special Leave before this Honble

Court.

V. Section 27 of the Act makes every offence under this Act

cognizable, non-bailable and Section 28 states that no court

shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except

on a complaint made, interalia, by an appropriate authority

concerned. In several States, the police have acted under

section 27 of the Act and conducted investigations and in

some cases registered FIRs. These FIRs have then gone on

to be quashed on the grounds that police have no powers

to act under this Act. It is suggested that all investigations

done by the police could be saved if a complaint is finally

made by the appropriate authority as required U/s.28. In

fact Rule 18 A (iii) (iv) of the PCPNDT Act states that as far

as possible the police should not be involved in investigation

of cases as the cases are tried as complaint cases under

Cr.P.C. Therefore, there is no bar in exceptional cases for

the police to be involved in investigation. This suggestion

would aid in the effective implementation of the Act keeping

in view the extremely difficult objective sought to be

achieved.

VI. Under Section 28 which relates to cognisance of offences,

Appropriate Authority has been authorized to file a


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complaint. The legislature in its wisdom has also provided

that a person which includes a social organization can also

file a complaint after giving a notice of not less than 15

days to the Appropriate Authority. In order to ensure that a

person who has committed heinous offence under the Act

does not go unpunished, Section 28(3) provides that a

person/social organization which has given notice to the AA

be provided copies of all the relevant documents. However,

Section 28(3) uses the term may. The Applicants submit

that the word may should be read as shall as such

interpretation will be inconsistent with Section 17(3), as well

as directions given under Section 6(e) of CEHAT & Ors v.

Union of India & Ors.

VII. Under Section 23(2), if the charges are framed, the case of

such registered medical practitioner has to be reported by

the AA to the State Medical Council. It is mandatory that on

framing of charges, the registration of the accused doctor is

put under suspension and after conviction, his name is

removed from the register for 5 years for the first offence

and permanently for the subsequent offences. Inspite of

charges being framed, the cases are not reported by the

Appropriate Authority to the State Medical Council and the

State Medical Council does not suspend the licenses inspite

of framing of charges. Even when a case is reported by the


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Appropriate Authority to the SMC, where charges have been

framed, the SMC instead of suspending the license

immediately proceeds with hearings, which are not

accordance with the provisions of the Act. Appropriate

directions are required to be given in this regard.

VIII. The members of civil society, NIMC should be provided

protection under Section 31.

IX. Regarding sale of ultrasound machine, there is prohibition

under Section 3-B read with Rule 3-A. Still, the ultrasound

machines are being sold illegally, in violation of the

provisions and orders of this Honble Court. It is submitted

that the moment any ultrasound machine is sold, all the

documents including names of the seller, purchaser,

financier/banker should be informed to the concerned AA

and the AA should put all the relevant documents as

provided by the Act/Rules on their website. Without support

and loans by the banking, non-banking organizations it is

highly impossible for any medical professional or hospital to

purchase ultra sonography machine. So, direction be given

to all banking and non-banking organizations to sanction

the loan or financial support after ensuring legality and

registration of the body(including authorised medical

professionals) under PCPNDT Act.


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X. Any registered body should keep only those ultrasound

machines which are owned by them and should not keep

the machines belonging to some other person/doctor/any

other clinic. It has been noticed that the doctors/clinics

outsource radiological services to a third party which is too

often not registered. Through this mechanism, the

doctors/clinics violate the provisions of the act. Relevant

extracts from the report of a visit to Punjab ordered is

quoted below:

Fortis Hospital Mohali- The records of USG

Machines were checked and we learnt that

radiological services were outsourced to a third

party; namely, CT Scan Research Center Private

Limited having its MD, Dr.Chawla. The

registration of the ultrasound unit was in the

name of Escorts Heart Institute, whereas the

name of Fortis Hospital appeared on the

ultrasound reports. Note a few of the ultrasound

machines were purchased by Escorts Hospital.

And Dr. Chawalas private limited company also

purchased some ultrasound machines. But all

these were listed in the name of Escorts heart

institute on form B. Thus it appears strange that

the Hospital name is FORTIS hospital,

registration of ultrasound facility in name of

Escorts heart Institute. While some Ultrasound

Machines are purchased by CT scan research

center private limited. The Radiology services

are run by the CT scan research center private


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limited, and all the radiologists are working for

this company and not for escorts heart institute

who according to the registration is the owner.The NIMC recommend that a thorough

investigation of these registration violations of

the PC-PNDT Act be undertaken by the

Government of Punjab and necessary action be

taken against the violators and a formal report

be submitted to Union Health Ministry within 1month.

13. It is required to be pointed out that the Amendment

Committee constituted by the MoHFW to look into amending

the PC-PNDT Act met in 2015 and did not have a single

member from the civil society or from the legal fraternity. It

was composed only of doctors. While looking at amending a

law that has vast implications on the society, it is very

essential that members of the civil society who work on such

issues consistently and members of the legal fraternity who

work with such matters are made a part of the Amendment

Committee.

14. The focus of the implementation of the Act has regrettably

been confined to the technique of ultrasonography. With the

amendment of the Act in 2002, newer medical techniques

that may lead to discrimination against the girl child were

also brought under the purview of the Act. Hence, bodies

where pre-conceptional procedures or services are provided


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where sex of the child can be ascertained before and after

conception must also be registered and they should comply

with the provisions of the Act/Rules by filling up all the

required forms. The State of Maharashtra has started to

enforce this and the other States must also be made to

follow the same.

15. Given the importance and considerable responsibility of each

authority involved in the implementation of the PC-PNDT Act

at the District and State Levels(Appropriate Authority, Nodal

Officer), a lifetime total of 5 years should be the allowed

maximum tenure of the concerned officer. This limitation

must also apply to the clerk/assistant who looks after PC-

PNDT records at the District/State level. The reason for this

limitation is that it will prevent people with vested interests

from influencing employees and using them to subvert the

implementation of the Act.

16. State-wise Position

The affidavits which have been filed by different States

have been analyzed by the Applicants. The said affidavits

along with relevant material have also been studied by the

Girls Count, a Civil Society organisation and a report was

released in December 2015 by Honble Justice Hemant L.

Gokhale (Retd. Supreme Court Judge). The analysis of the


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facts of each State/UT and directions sought by the

Applicants shall be submitted to this Honble Court during

hearing of arguments.

Filed by

[ANITHA SHENOY][ADVOCATE FOR THE APPLICANTS]

FILED ON: 05.01.2015

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