Supreme Court Disposes Of 2006 Plea Seeking Better Implementation Of PC&PNDT Act Due To Amendments Made In Over Two Decades

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna, Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya disposed of the plea while also granting liberty to file a fresh petition.

The petition was filed two decades ago, wherein the petitioner had asked for the Appropriate Authorities (AAs) and advisory committees under the 1994 Act to be reconstituted, with private doctors removed and reputed NGOs and individuals committed to full implementation of the Act put in their place. It also sought to strengthen and expand the team of Appropriate Authorities and fix a budget for them.

It further sought an order making the AAs accountable and directly liable “for worsening sex ratio in the area under their jurisdiction,” with clear legal consequences for breach of duty. It sought that the statutory forms be maintained in duplicate and sent monthly to the AAs, with reputed NGOs having access to them for monitoring and prosecutions.

With regards to the regulation of machines, the petitioner sought directions that one operator to operate only one ultrasound machine, and that machines be sealed when the said qualified operator is absent. It also sought directions to ensure that seized machines and cancelled registrations are not returned or re-registered, and that manufacturers and sellers disclose the persons to whom they sold machines to the AAs on a monthly basis, instead of every three months. It also sought that the powers of the AAs, including search and seizure under Sections 30(1) and 30(2) of the 1994 Act, be clubbed together under Section 17A of the Act.

With respect to the enforcement and prosecution, the petitioner sought directions to the Medical Council of India to make it a duty to disclose for doctors to report breaches of the Act and to act on complaints made by the AAs. It also sought for special legal officers to conduct prosecutions, special courts for cases under the 1994 Act, time-bound trials and specialised training for presiding officers. It further sought the constitution of a Commission, consisting of reputed NGOs, individuals and government servants, to conduct surprise raids and report to the Supreme Court.

Further, it sought monthly monitoring of the child sex ratio at birth at the district level, compulsory registration of births in all States, biennial audits of birth registers and a methodical analysis of birth and death registers. An expert committee was also sought to review the 23 indications in Form F, along with separate registration for imaging techniques and gynaecological techniques such as Amniocentesis and Chronic Villi Biopsy, and a direction that ultrasound not be offered without getting referred. It also sought training and sensitisation of doctors, inclusion of the subject in the medical curriculum, and the use of registration fees for engaging lawyers and auditing Form F.

Considering the amendments that have been made in the 1994 Act since the pendency of the writ petition, the Supreme Court disposed of the plea, while also granting the petitioner or any other party liberty to file a fresh plea.

“During the pendency of this Writ Petition before this Court several amendments have been made to the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition on Sex-Selection) Act, 1994 (for short 'PC & PNDT Act') and the Rules,” the bench observed.

Appearances:

For Petitioners: Mr. Khowaja Siddiqui, Adv.; Mr. Arvind Gupta, AOR; Mr. Ashwini Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Kanav Bhardwaj, Adv.; Ms. Vanshika Sah, Adv.; Mr. Priyanshu Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR; Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR; Ms. Jyoti Mendiratta, AOR; Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR; Mr. Keshav Ranjan, A.A.G.; Mr. Nishant Verma, AOR; Ms. Smriti Churiwal, Adv.; Mr. Utkarsh Raj, Adv.; Mr. Jitendra Kumar Singh, Adv.; Ms. Madhulika Upadhyay, AOR; Mr. Shri Venkatesh, Adv.; Ms. Kanika Chugh, Adv.; Mr. Shryeshth Ramesh Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Suhael Buttan, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Nigotia, Adv.; Mr. Soham Goswami, Adv.; Mr. Mohit Mansharamani, Adv.; Mr. Kunal Veer Chopra, Adv.; Ms. Nishtha Kumar, AOR; Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Rajeev Singh, Adv.; Mr. Samant Singh, Adv.; Ms. Aditi Mishra, Adv.; Mr. Dhruv Singh, Adv.; Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR

For Respondents: Mr. Praveen Agrawal, AOR; Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR; Mr. Milind Kumar, AOR; Mrs. B. Sunita Rao, AOR; Mr. Gaurav Kejriwal, AOR; Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.; Ms. Madhulika Upadhyay, AOR; Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, Adv.; Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Alabhya Dhamija, Adv.; Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv.; Ms. Sushma Suri, AOR; Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR; Mr. P. N. Gupta, AOR; Mr. T. V. George, AOR; Ms. Kamini Jaiswal, AOR; Mr. T. Harish Kumar, AOR; Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR; Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR; Ms. C. K. Sucharita, AOR; Mr. Abhisth Kumar, AOR; Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR; Mr. P. V. Yogeswaran, AOR; Mr. Chandra Prakash, AOR; Mr. Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, AOR; Mr. Chanchal Kumar Ganguli, AOR; Mr. Rajesh Srivastava, AOR; Mr. Shri Venkatesh, Adv.; Ms. Kanika Chugh, Adv.; Mr. Shryeshth Ramesh Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Suhael Buttan, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Nigotia, Adv.; Mr. Soham Goswami, Adv.; Mr. Mohit Mansharamani, Adv.; Mr. Kunal Veer Chopra, Adv.; Ms. Nishtha Kumar, AOR; Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR; Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.; Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.; Mr. Prang Newmai, Adv.; Ms. Yanmi Phazang, Adv.; M/S. Corporate Law Group, AOR; Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR; Mr. Puneet Jain, Sr. Adv.; Mrs. Christi Jain, Adv.; Ms. Akriti Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Om Sudhir Vidyarthi, Adv.; Mr. Aditya Jain, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Jain, Adv.; Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR; Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR; Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR; Mr. D. Mahesh Babu, AOR; Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR; Ms. G. Indira, AOR; Mr. Anil Shrivastav, AOR; Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR; Mr. Jay Kishor Singh, AOR; Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR; Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.; Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, Adv.; Ms. Alabhya Dhamija, Adv.; Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.; Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv.; Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR; Dr. Arun Kumar Yadav, Adv.; Mr. B.l.n.sanjit, Adv.; Mr. Anil Kumar Jha, AOR; Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR; Mr. Sudhir Walia, Adv.; Ms. Niharika Ahluwalia, AOR; Mr. Himaghn Jain, Adv.; Ms. Aarushi Gupta, Adv.; Mr. Ankur S. Kulkarni, AOR; Mr. Mohan Lal Sharma, AOR; Ms. Rupali Francesca Samuel, AOR; Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR; Mr. Divyansh Mishra, Adv.; Mr. Anang Amrit, Adv.; Mr. Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Adv.; Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR; Mr. Ishwar Chand, Adv.; Ms. Sabarni Som, Adv.; Mr. Vishal Prasad, Adv.; Ms. Monica Gopichand Haseja, Adv.; Ms. Nupur Kumar, AOR (Caveator-in-person); Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR; Mr. Somkeerti V Singhdeo, Adv.; Mr. Sanskar Singh Kirar, Adv.; Ms. Manju Jetley, AOR; Mr. Parijat Kishore, AOR; Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G.; Mr. Shivansh B. Pandya, Adv.; Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR; Ms. Manisha T. Karia, Sr. Adv.; Ms. Nidhi Nagpal, AOR; Ms. Shreya Gupta, Adv.; Mr. Varun Khetwani, Adv.; Ms. Ananya Arora, Adv.; Mr. Deepin Deepak Sahni, Adv.; Mr. Vishal Navale, Adv.; Mr. Adarsh Kumar, Adv.; Ms. Rishika Saluja, Adv.; Mr. Chander Shekhar Ashri, AOR; Mr. K. S. Rana, AOR; Mr. Smarhar Singh, AOR; Mr. Dhananjay Tyagi, Adv.; Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv.; Ms. Shweta Kumari, Adv.; Mr. Pallav Mongia, AOR; Mr. C. K. Sasi, AOR; Ms. Chitrangda Rastravara, Adv.; Mr. Anirudh Singh, Adv.; Mr. Abhijeet Singh, Adv.; Mr. Aishwary Mishra, Adv.; Mr. Dashrath Singh, Adv.; Mr. Yuvraj Singh Champawat, Adv.; Ms. Anushikha Rathore, Adv.; Mr. Jai Chauhan, Adv.; Mrs. Anushree, Adv.; Mr. Gp. Capt. Karan Singh Bhati, AOR; Mr. Shubhranshu Padhi, AOR; Mr. Jay Nirupam, Adv.; Mr. D. Girish Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Pranav Giri, Adv.; Mr. Ritik Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Dinkar Kalra, AOR; Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR; Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv.; Ms. Aarthi Rajan, AOR; Mr. S.r. Raghunathan, Adv.; Mrs. Aarthi Rajan, AOR; Mr. S. Santanam Swaminadhan, Adv.; Ms. Abhilasha Shrawat, Adv.; Mr. Kartik Malhotra, Adv.; Mr. Aman Rawat, Adv.; Mr. Ananya Kukreti, Adv.; Mr. Prem Sunder Jha, AOR; Mr. Pramod Dayal, AOR; Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR; Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR; Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR; Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR; Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR; Mr. Niraj Sharma, AOR; Mr. Rajeev Singh, AOR; Mr. Sanjay Parikh, Sr. Adv.; Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR; Ms. Tara Elizabeth Kurien, Adv.; Mr. D.P.Singh, Adv.; Ms. Anchal Kanthed, Adv.; Mr. Aravindh S., AOR; Ms. Pratibha Jain, AOR; Mr. Puneet Jain, Sr. Adv.; Mrs. Christi Jain, Adv.; Ms. Akriti Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Om Sudhir Vidyarthi, Adv.; Mr. Aditya Jain, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Jain, Adv.; Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR; Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.; Ms. Anupam Ngangom, Adv.; Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.; Mr. Vijay Singh, Adv.; Mr. Pawan Kumar, Adv.; Mrs. Suman Saharan, Adv.; Mr. Vinay Kumar Gupta, Adv.; Mr. C. K. Rai, AOR; Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR; Mr. Praveen Agrawal, AOR; Mr. Khowaja Siddiqui, Adv.; Mr. Ashwini Kr. Adv.; M/S. M/s Ravi Chandra Prakash & Co., AOR; Mr. Ravi Chandra Prakash, Adv.; Mr. Mukesh K Singh, Adv.; Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR; Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR; Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv.; Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR; Ms. Shalini Kaul, AOR; Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G.; Mr. Rajesh Ranjan, Adv.; Ms. Alabhya Dhamija, Adv.; Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.; Ms. Priyanka Das, Adv.; Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR; Dr. Arun Kumar Yadav, Adv.; Mr. B.l.N.sanjit, Adv.; Mr. Shri Venkatesh, Adv.; Ms. Kanika Chugh, Adv.; Mr. Shryeshth Ramesh Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Suhael Buttan, Adv.; Mr. Siddharth Nigotia, Adv.; Mr. Soham Goswami, Adv.; Mr. Mohit Mansharamani, Adv.; Mr. Kunal Veer Chopra, Adv.; Ms. Nishtha Kumar, AOR; Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR; Mr. Sudhir Walia, Adv.; Ms. Niharika Ahluwalia, Adv.; Ms. Vidyottma Jha, Adv.; Mr. Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Adv.; Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv.; Ms. Aarthi Rajan, AOR; Mr. S.R. Raghunathan, Adv.;Mrs. Aarthi Rajan, AOR; Mr. S. Santanam Swaminadhan, Adv.; Ms. Abhilasha Shrawat, Adv.; Mr. Kartik Malhotra, Adv.; Mr. Aman Rawat, Adv.; Mr. Ananya Kukreti, Adv.; Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR; Mr. Rajiv Kumar Choudhry, AOR; Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR; Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv.; Mr. Manjit Singh Gill, Adv.; Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv.; Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Narendra Pal Sharma, Adv.; Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Adv.; Mr. Zulfiker Ali, AOR; Mr. Anna Oommen, Adv.; Ms. Mandakini Singh, Adv.; Ms. Ashima Mandla, AOR; Ms. Vanshika Tewari, Adv.; Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Harmeet Singh, AOR; Ms. Niharika Singh, Adv.; Mr. Neeraj Kr. Sharma, Adv.; Mr. S.N.Terdal, AOR; Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Adv.; Mr. Rupali F.Samuel, AOR; Mr. James P.Thomas, Standing Counsel; Mr. C.K.Sasi, AOR