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PUNJAB AND HARYANA HIGH COURT: ENDING OF FEMAL FOETICIDE IS DESTRUCTIVE FOR WOMEN'S FUTURE.
On 30th October the Punjab and Haryana High Court articulate its concern regarding the tradition of prenatal sex determination. The court opined that,
"Considering the disapproving mindset of society towards a female infant including the use of medical instruments for a female foeticide Act has been enforced to curtail prenatal sex determination. Even after the relevant laws, the danger of sexual destruction of the fetus continues to haunt society
The Bench of Justice Avneesh Jhingan further noted, "The Constitution ensures gender equality, but prenatal sex determination depletes the fetus of coming to this planet. In a civilized society, the sex of the fetus can not be a deciding factor in getting a lease of life to see this planet, if the consequences were allowed to be catastrophic, the culture itself would be at risk.
The case before the Court: an appeal for the grant of bail in accordance with FIR No. 226 dated 29.9.2020, pursuant to Sections 353, 186, 420 IPC and Sections 4, 5, 6, 23, and 29 of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The police obtained classified information about the criminal acts carried out under the Act. The group of doctors was interested in raiding the site. A decoy consumer was deployed to administer an ultrasound to ascertain the identity of the fetus. The payment was rendered by means of numbered currency notes. The accused consequently dramatized the conduct of ultrasound on the decoy client and played a pre-recorded video (on an LCD) demonstrating that ultrasound was done in the name of sex determination. During the raid, LCD and video play devices were confiscated along with numbered currency notes.
Arguments set forward: the petitioner's lawyers claimed that no one has ever filed a single lawsuit. Moreover, it was claimed that, because no ultrasound machine had been retrieved from the site, the rules of the Act did not apply. It was also argued that there was no lawsuit against him from anyone. However, the Court did not accept this claim and stated that "the person who is voluntarily involved in the enactment, in other words, is a party to an unlawful act, is not supposed to file a lawsuit with the police."
The State attorney, on the other hand, rejected the granting of anticipatory bail and argued that a custodial investigation was appropriate when a number of persons had been scammed. He also claimed that the charges were serious; there was a recovery of the marked currency and the device was projected to the consumers as an ultrasound unit.
The Court's findings, The Court noted that the appellant's claim that the rules of the Act did not extend because no ultrasound has been carried out "does not strengthen the case of the petitioner." The Court observed, "The truth remains that the guarantee is granted and the expected image is that its ultrasound is being done. Except in the case of the decoy customer, the ultrasound gel was added, the probe was mounted on her abdomen and then the video recording was played on the LCD. "Importantly, in the light of the present case, the Court observed," Although the petitioner did not perform an ultrasound, he still had to provide the outcome of sex determination as he paid for the same, his conduct would decide the fate of the fetus."
The Court also referred to Sections 5(1), 5(2), and 6 of the Pre-Design and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. Section 5(1) specifies that no prenatal medical test shall be carried out without describing the adverse effects to the pregnant woman and without gaining her consent. Section 5(2) specifies that the sex of the fetus shall not be conveyed by gestures, signals, or in any other manner to the pregnant woman or her family or any other person. Section 6 forbids the use of medical procedures by different centers to ascertain the identity of the fetus. In fact, the Court argued that "determining the sex of the fetus is a model of disability that impacts society regularly. The preference for a male child is an open secret. The gender ratio in culture has been affected ... the end of female feticide is the death of potential women. There should be no debate about the fact that women have a multi-faceted role in society
Finally, the Court said, "At the point of granting early parole, a prima facie case must be found and the matter must not be finally resolved. Despite the existence of the charges and the facts gathered, there is no argument for the issuance of anticipatory bail.
The appeal was thus denied. It is explained that the findings made above are only for deciding on the anticipatory bail
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