The Hindu : SC warning on pre-natal diagnostic tests

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 06, 2002

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SC warning on pre-natal diagnostic tests

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI March 5 . While granting further time to the States and the Union Territories (UTs) to implement its orders banning illegal sex-determination tests, the Supreme Court today warned that the Health Secretaries of States and the UTs failing to implement them would be required to be present in the court on April 9.

A Bench, comprising M.B. Shah and Doraiswamy Raju passed the order during a resumed hearing of a public interest petition filed by CEHAT, a non governmental organisation (NGO) bringing to the court's notice the rampant practice of illegal sex determination tests being conducted in the country resulting in female foeticide.

The petitioner had also submitted as to how the provisions of Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act were being misused.

On January 29, the court said that it was informed by the Centre that the Director, Department of Family Welfare had received relevant particulars from companies and NGOs using ultrasound machines/scanners and had forwarded the same to the States and the UTs asking them to take action against those clinics which were not registered. They were also told to seize and seal those machines for the time being.

The court had also directed the authorities to follow the mandatory procedure provided under the Act in granting certificate of registration to any person or organisation using the ultrasound machine/scanner.

When the case was taken up today, it was brought to the court's notice that many of the States and the UTs had not implemented the above order.

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