High Court upholds decision to install silent observer in sonography machines

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The High Court’s approval to install silent observers may also pave way for adoption of the method by other districts in the state to keep a check on sex-determination conducted in the garb of sonography.

Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA) had challenged the government’s move alleging that it was an infringement on their patients’ privacy and the “sacred” doctor-patient confidentiality. The silent observer software,when installed in a sonography machine,allows the collector’s office to directly view the scanned images of the patient.

Defending the government’s move,its counsel Ashutosh Kumbhakoni had contented,“This device would act as a deterrent and would help track down cases of female foeticide. It’s a positive step taken by the district collector that needs to be encouraged.”

Dismissing the IRIA’s petition,Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice RP Sondurbaldota observed,“There is no merit in the challenge. The court cannot close its eyes to the decreasing figures of child sex ratio in the state,especially in Kolhapur.”

Lauding the step taken by the collector in Kolhapur,the court said it hoped that the installation of the silent observer would help in balancing the child sex ratio in the state. Protecting the privacy of the patients and the sonography clinics,however,the court said the images monitored through the silent observer should not be made available to third parties unless disputed in a court. The child sex ratio has gone down from 913 in 2001 to 883 in 2011 in the state. In Beed,it’s as low as 801 and in Kolhapur it is 836,the court had been informed in another petition filed before it earlier.

“These (sex-determination) tests are not undergone by the lower strata of the society. The higher strata,who are well educated,are the ones going for sex-determination tests,” Kumbhakoni had told the court.