NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre on a plea for effective implementation of the anti sex determination law and rules as "even the smallest of inactions have massive consequences on the female mortality rate".
The petition filed by SC advocate Shobha Gupta and another person Sanskriti Shakuntala Gupta claimed the authorities concerned at state level "religiously" failed to fulfill their legislative obligation under the rules which mandates that every acquittal under the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prevention of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 and Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prevention of Sex Selection) Rules, 1994, must be compulsorily appealed without any discretion of the appropriate authorities.
A bench of Chief Justice U U Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat issued notice to the Union government's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, though the petitioners made States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bihar as parties, in the matter.
Senior advocate Pinky Anand appeared for the petitioner.
The court posted the matter for consideration on October 10.
Under the Rule 18-A (5)(vi), the appropriate authorities are required to take immediate action for filing appeal, revision or other proceedings in higher courts in case of order of acquittal within a period 30 days but not later days 15 days receipt of the order of acquittal.
However, "Regretfully, the appropriate authorities are religiously violating the bounden duty cast on them by the statute. There are large-scale acquittals but the authorities, particularly in Gujarat and Rajasthan, as per data available on the website, have not preferred even a single appeal against acquittals. Possibilities of similar inaction in other States and UTs cannot be completely ruled out," the plea claimed.
Further, no action has been taken by the under Section 25 of the PNDT Act, in violation of Rule 18A 5(vi) against the violator, who faced imprisonment upto three months with fine.
The Committee on Empowerment of Women (2021-2022) found that over the last 25 years, only 617 convictions were recorded out of 3158 court cases registered under PNDT Act and Rajasthan and Maharashtra which have recorded the lowest Sex Ratio at birth, 871 and 880 respectively, in 2016-18 are having the highest number of court cases/police cases pending i.e. 604 and 753 respectively, it pointed out.
"Inspite of the Section 25 of the PNDT Act carry punishment for violation of Rule 18-A(5)(vi), the said Rules is being brazenly trampled and violated by "appropriate authorities", it claimed.
Giving the data in Rajasthan, the plea claimed no appeal has been filed by the appropriated authority under Rule 18-A (5) (VI) in acquitted cases.
Maintaining that the petition pertains to the dark facts of female infanticide and the declining sex ratio, the petitioners through advocate M C Dhingra asked the court to issue direction for strict compliance of the rules and the law.
