PDF herunterladen
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2012; 22(02): 137-140
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.101116
Special Issue - PC-PNDT

A perspective on the PCPNDT Act

A Murali Mohan Patnaik
Department of Forensic Medicine, M.I.M.S. Medical College, Nellimarla (Vizianagaram), Andhra Pradesh, India
,
Gouri Shankar Kejriwal
Department of Radio-Diagnosis, M.I.M.S. Medical College, Nellimarla (Vizianagaram), Andhra Pradesh, India
› Institutsangaben Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
› Weitere Informationen
Auch verfügbar auf
  als PDF herunterladen Lizenzen und Reprints

Abstract

Background: An important modern diagnostic tool, used for monitoring pregnancy and genetic defects; the ultrasound machine, has also become a selective killer of the female child. The male child preference in India was responsible for female infanticides in the past. With easy availability and accessibility of USG, a shift has occurred from infanticide to feticide, although female infanticides still continue. In the process doctors are blamed as "merchants of death". Peeved and pressed by national and internal agencies for the declining female child ratio (0-6 years), the Government of India reacted by enacting a stringent PC-PNDT Act almost solely aimed at doctors to prevent them from advertising and disclosing the sex of the fetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives. Since the enactment, hundreds of cases have been launched against the doctors. Aim: 1. In order to stand up to the law important sections and rules of the PC-PNDT Act have been analyzed for the benefit of our colleagues. 2. The Indian legal system rests the "burden of proof" on the prosecution. In two sections of The Act, these have been done away with. Instead, the accused doctor has to prove himself innocent. Therefore a demand has been made to make suitable amendments to The Act in this regard. 3. The inclusion of column numbers 9-19 in the form ′F′ is not relevant for USG clinics/ imaging centers; inaccurate filling of which may attract a prison sentence of 3 years. This irrelevance has to be deleted. 4. Some suggestions.

Keywords

Form-′F′ - ′Burden of proof′ - Imaging center - Ultrasound clinic


Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
30. Juli 2021

© 2012. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 The Act No.57 of 1994 Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques, (Prohibition of sex selection) and rules 1996 (regulation and prevention) as amended vide Act No. 14 of 2003 enacted by the Parliament of Republic of India.
  • 2 Information laid in Lok Sabha during 2011; SBS/Is release ID 77581. Judgment of Honorable High Court of Gujarat at Ahmadabad - CR. REF/420/2008, 5/24 and criminal references No.3 and 4 of 2008. Judgment dated 30/09/2008.
  • 3 Newspaper reports Deccan chronicle and Indian Express (Visakhapatnam edition) and TV channels from time to time.
  • 4 HMIS for NRHM as on November 2010 and HMIS Rch reports accessed on 23rd November 2010 reflected in Annual report 2010/11; Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.
  • 5 Answer of Sri. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India with reference to a Parliamentary question put by Honorable nominated member Sri. H.K. Dua; in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday the 4th August 2011.
  • 6 Janaki Ramaiah G, Chandrashekar T, Vinayaka Murthy P. Table on child sex ratio in the 0-6 age group (1981-2011). Asia Pac J Soc Sci 2011;3:183-98.
  • 7 Mee RH, Gerald W. Study published in the FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) - Friday, January 20, 2012.
  • 8 Ryu HM, Weissmann G. Study published in the FASEB (Federation of American Societies for experimental Biology) Friday, January 20, 2012.