Punjab & Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Woman Allegedly Involved In Pre-Natal Sex Determination Activities

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently granted regular bail to a woman booked under the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, allegedly for accompanying the decoy witness to the place where the sex determination test was supposed to be conducted. After taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, role played by the petitioner, along with the fact that co-accused was already released on regular bail, the court deemed it appropriate to allow the instant petition releasing the petitioner on regular bail.It was alleged that one Babita and the co-accused Sukhwinder Kaur went alongwith the decoy customer in the car, where they met the petitioner, who is alleged to have taken money from Sukhwinder Kaur. The petitioner is stated to have led the decoy customer to the house where the sex determination test was to be conducted upon the decoy customer.The Petitioner contended that a sum of Rs.32,000/-, which was fixed as the cost for sex determination and was duly marked by the PNDT Team, was recovered from co-accused Sukhwinder Kaur. The role attributed to the petitioner is stated to be at par with co-accused Babita, who was already on bail.It was further contended that the petitioner was neither a technical nor a professional employee of the place where the sex determination test is alleged to have taken place. Consequently, the provisions of Section 23 of the PNDT Act would not get attracted to the petitioner.Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances noticed above, role attributed to the petitioner, as also the fact that other similarly placed co-accused Babita has already been granted the concession of regular bail by the Additional Sessions Judge (Fast Track Special Court to primarily try the cases of rape alongwith the offences of POCSO Act), Kurukshetra vide order dated 02.06.2022, I deem it appropriate to allow the instant petition. The bench comprising Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj noted that the similarly placed co-accused named Babita has already been granted regular bail by the Fast Track Special Court. Accordingly, the court while allowing the petition, ordered the petitioner to be released on regular bail. Court further made it clear that the petitioner shall not threaten or influence any prosecution witnesses in any manner. Case Title: DEEPA @ DEEPIKA Versus STATE OF HARYANACitation: 2022 LiveLaw (PH) 171Click Here To Read/Download Order

Punjab & Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Woman Allegedly Involved In Pre-Natal Sex Determination Activities

Drishti Yadav

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