On the suggestions of a Attorney General Soli Sorabjee, a bench comprising Justice M B Shah and Justice S N Variava also directed the Central Supervisory Board (CSB) to meet every six months to review and monitor the implementation of the act.

This order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Centre for Inquiry into Health and Allied themes (CEHAT) which submitted that the male female ratio in the country was dropping alarmingly due to the unchecked practice of determining the sex of a foetus which invariably resulted in female foeticide.

CEHAT had also alleged that sex determination was possible even before the conception by a method called pre-natal genetic diagnosis and warned that unless it checked this practice, the country would face the consequences in the future. Already, India has the dubious distinction of having the lowest sex ratio in the world.

The court asked the CSB to examine the necessity of amending the act keeping in mind emerging technologies and difficulties encountered in implementation of the act and make necessary recommendations to the Central Government

The court directed the Central and state Governments to create public awareness against the practice of pre-natal determination of sex and female foeticide through appropriate releases in the electronic media.

Technorati Tags: India Law