Act that made life tough for vendors of death

According to state health authorities,342 cases were filed in Maharashtra since the Act came into force in 2003. Of these,202 cases were filed in the past two years,ever since initiatives were undertaken to increase awareness about the Act and sensitise authorities about its implications.

Officials said 94 of the 342 cases have been decided and 42 doctors convicted. Of those convicted,penalties were imposed on 16,while 26 doctors were jailed and had to pay fines,Dr A Khade,nodal officer,state PC-PNDT cell said.

He added that as directed by Bombay High Court to expedite cases filed before 2010,of the 140 such cases,78 were decided by the deadline of December 31,2011.

The state has also decided to file appeals in the 52 cases where the ruling was against them,he said. “We have filed 18 appeals so far,” Khade told Newsline.

Experts say that major challenges still come in the way of implementing the Act. However,in a unique initiative by the state health authorities,Bombay High Court,Maharashtra Judicial Academy with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),nearly 2,000 judicial officers have been trained about the importance of the Act.

The 2011 census revealed that the child sex ratio in the country (the number of girls per 1,000 boys in the 0-6 years age group) has shown a sharp decline from 976 girls per 1,000 boys in 1961 to 914 in 2011. In Maharashtra,it dipped by 30 points and in certain parts of the country,there are less than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Though this Act was passed on September 20,1994,it came into force from January 1,1996. The Act was later amended as the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act,1994. The amended Act came into effect on February 14,2003.

However,the Act was not being implemented with the zeal and vigour that was expected. “Only a handful of people were prosecuted,hence not many case laws were available,” says Anuja Gulati,state coordinator of the UNFPA.

It was only after the Supreme Court and various high courts issued several directives that the government took upon itself the task of creating awareness,sensitisation and prosecuting errant doctors and clinics.

“Lessons have been learnt and we have involved judges from the high court to ensure that lawyers and public prosecutors get a deeper understanding of the Act and its social implications. Nearly 750 public prosecutors have been trained. A project to compile and analyse case laws under the Act was taken up earlier with the hope that it would serve as a guide and reference book on the issue of sex selection,’’ says Gulati.

2006 sex selection case: Doctors’ services to be terminated

The services of Dr Mohan Nagane,who was involved in a sex selection case in 2006,will be terminated soon,said Dr Bharati Sonawane,Deputy Director of Health Pune region. Nagane was convicted by a court in 2011 and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine. However,he continues to work as medical officer at a rural hospital at Shikrapur in Shirur taluka. The Maharashtra Medical Council had suspended the registration of Nagane for five years,disallowing him to practice by issuing an order on June 16. Sonawane said squads comprising local medical officer,tehsildar and local police officers have been set up to initiate effective implementation of the PC-PNDT Act.

DGP prescribes coordination between health officials,cops to unearth cases

In the backdrop of a number of cases of female foeticide being registered in different districts of the state,State Director-General of Police said the district level cops need to co-ordinate better with district health authorities in unearthing cases.

After the surrender of doctor couple Sudam and Saraswati Munde at Parli police station in Beed on June 17,a large number of their links in Jalgaon and Aurangabad have come to light. Independent cases of female foeticide in Solapur were also registered. Practicing licence of over 12 doctors have been cancelled. Beed police claim that the couple have aborted over 4,000 female foetuses.

Maharashtra DGP K Subramanyam said,“Our individual district level units are investigating these cases on priority. It must be understood that all the cases have been registered based on inputs from local health authorities. For better investigation,more meticulous co-operation is required from the health authorities. Better inputs from them will help us unearth more such cases.” He also said that there was no need of any state level co-ordinated investigation as all the cases are from individual districts.”

On May 18,Vijaymala Patekar,28,died during abortion at Munde’s hospital in Parli. Police also arrested a doctor from Jalgaon for allegedly assisting Munde. Several cases were also registered in Solapur. Police also arrested Saraswati Munde’s brother Angad Kendre,a farmer for allegedly helping the couple in disposing of the foetuses.