Supreme Court Seeks Data From States From 2015 Onward On Appeals Against Acquittals Under Prohibition of Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques For Sex Determination Rules

The Supreme Court today (September 13) has sought a reply from States long with data from January 1, 2015 to till date indicating as to in how many cases of acquittal, appeal, revision or other proceedings have been filed by the appropriate authorities in the higher courts in response to a PIL claiming that States are violating the mandate provisions of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Rules, 1966 by not filing mandatory appeals against other of acquittal. 

The Court has observed that in case of is non-compliance of the order by State, it will take appropriate adverse actions.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh is hearing a PIL where a writ of mandamus is sought to direct the appropriate authorities at all levels for strict compliance of Rule 18-A (5) (vi) of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Rules, 1966. Rule 18A(5)(vi) mandates immediate action for filing appeal, revision or other proceedings in higher courts in case of order of acquittal within a period of 30 days but not later than 15 days of receipt of order of acquittal.

The PIL filed by Advocate Shobha Gupta based on cited data claims that Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan are not filling appeals as per this Rule. Similarly, data has been made available for other States as well. The PIL also seeks directions to the appropriate authority for initiation of punishment/penalty under section 25 of the PNDT Act against the offender who contravenes the Rule 18-A(5) (vi).

The Union of India, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Jharkhand, NCT of Delhi, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Himachal pradesh, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Bihar have been pleaded as respondents. So far, the Union of India, States of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh has filed their counter-affidavits along with the requisite data.   

The Union of India has taken a stand that it is bound to take steps if there is non-compliance of Rule 18-A(5)(vi) but the implementation remains with the States. The States have to file data within 4 weeks of this order.

Case Details: SHOBHA GUPTA AND ANR. v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. W.P.(C) No. 301/2022

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