Bombay High Court Restores Case Against Marathi Preacher Who Advised Couples To Have Sex On Even Dates To Conceive Male Child

Religious discourse on techniques to conceive and identify a male foetus prima facie is an offence under the anti-sex determination PCPNDT Act, the Bombay High Court has held while refusing to quash a case against Marathi preacher (kirtankar) Nivrutti Kashinath Deshmukh (Indorikar). Deshmukh allegedly asked couples to perform sexual intercourse on even days for a male child.

Justice Kishore Sant observed that ‘advertisement’ under Sections 6 and 22 (1) of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) cannot be restricted to diagnostics centres and must be given a wider meaning.

It would include anyone propagating techniques for foetus’s sex selection, the court said.

“In this case if the words are taken as it is certainly may appear to be advertisement or propagating technique of sex selection. The words advertisement propagation are used in wide sense and needs to be taken in their wide meaning. It cannot be restricted only to the extent of diagnostic centre, clinic but anything that propagates or tries to impose upon the message that by use of certain techniques sex of foetus can be selected.”

Accordingly, the court allowed the appeal filed by a doctor and restored a Magistrate’s order issuing process against Nivrutti Deshmukh under the PCPNDT Act.

Facts

On January 4, 2020, Deshmukh a public speaker and preacher (kirtankar) addressed a gathering on techniques to conceive a male child and allegedly cited certain extracts from religious books as well as books on Ayurveda. The speech was uploaded on YouTube the same day.

Deshmukh said in his speech that if a married couple have sexual intercourse on even-dates then the wife would conceive a male child and intercourse on odd-dates would ensure the woman conceived a female child.

He further claimed that after six months if the foetus in womb turned to the right it was a male and if it turned to the left it was a female.

Advocate Ranjana Pagar-Gawande from Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti – an anti-superstition organisation filed a representation with Dr. Bhaskar Madhavrao Bhavar, Medical Superintendent of Ahmednagar District Hospital. Finding substance in the complaint Dr. Bhaskar initially issued notice to Deshmukh and subsequently filed a complaint with the Magistrate for offences under sections 22(1)(2)(3) & 23(1) of the PCPNDT Act.

On July 3, 2020 process was issued against Deshmukh. He filed a criminal revision application in the Sessions court which was allowed and the case against Deshmukh was quashed. The Sessions court held that Deshmukh hadn’t mentioned lab or centre for sex determination. His words didn’t amount to propagation of sex selection either. The Session court further said the statements during ‘religious discourse’ were not controversial.

The doctor as well as Gawande approached High Court against the order.

At the outset the court observed that kirtankars are highly influential in rural and semi-urban areas.

The APP submitted that Deshmukh’s words clearly propagated sex selection.

On the other hand, Deshmukh’s lawyer gave the list of religious books such as ‘Gurucharitra’, ‘Ashtang Hridayam’, ‘Dharmasindhu’, ‘Santanyog’ to support his claim. The advocate submitted the books were already part of public discourse, therefore conveying it wouldn’t amount to advertisement.

He cited a case wherein the author of a book referred to old text for sex determination.

“Writing a book for study for academic purpose cannot be equated with the acts alleged in this case. Preserving & imparting knowledge is always to be done in particular manner to the persons interested to gain the knowledge. There is no case of respondent that he was giving lecture to students of medicine. He was giving public speech in the form of Kirtan,” the judge observed.

“In this case the respondent has not only advertised but has claimed the information about the techniques to be correct and having scientific base. He also supports that such texts has religious sanctity which make it more serious looking to the people before whom speeches are made,” the court added.

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