Supreme Court rejects stay on Central government's suspension of certain PCPNDT rules

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Centre’s April 4 notification by which the implementation of certain rules of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex-Selection Rules), 1996 (PCPNDT), were suspended till June 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

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SC refuses to stay govt's notification

"It is a national crisis right now. Services of doctors, nursing staff are required elsewhere. Their services need to be conserved... But we give you the liberty to approach us if the notification is renewed after June 30," the three-judge bench comprising Justices U U Lalit, M M Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran.

The plea, filed by one Sabu Mathew George, has challenged the “illegal and arbitrary” notification issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, dated April 4, by which the implementation of the Rule 8, 9(8) and 18 A (6) of the PCPNDT was suspended till June 30. “This action, rolls back the gains made by the proper implementation of the Act by this Court, and is arbitrary and unreasonable, aside from being a nullity, and wholly without jurisdiction. Such a power to suspend is not provided in the scheme of the Act,” the plea said.

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Earlier in April, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat raised concerns over the suspension of certain provisions under the PCPNDT Act due to the coronavirus crisis and said that they could be misused for conducting illegal sex determination tests freely. In a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Karat said genetic counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic and ultrasound clinics and imaging centres which are covered under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act are considered essential services and will continue to operate despite the lockdown. So, suspension of certain rules under the act could lead to large scale violations.

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"If the government had assessed that for the month of March it would not be possible for clinics conducting tests to send the reports by April 5th, and had issued an administrative order condoning the delay it would be understandable. However, suspending the rule itself means that the clinic need not produce any records till June 30th. This could be misused by unscrupulous sections to conduct sex determination tests freely. You will appreciate my concern that the suspension of the Rule may lead to sabotage of the law under the guise of the situation created by COVID-19," she said.

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