Bombay high court helps fight female foeticide

In a significant victory for the state government in its drive against female foeticide, the Bombay high court on Friday upheld Kolhapur district collector’s decision to make it mandatory for all pathologists using sonography and ultrasound machines to install the ‘silent observer’, a device which records all sonography images, which are then stored in a centralised server, and can be reviewed later to track instances of foeticide.

The system also enables documentation of pregnant women to be stored online.

The Maharashtra chapter of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, represented by Dr Jignesh Thakkar, had argued that the device is useless, and that images captured by it can be viewed by a third party, thus invading the privacy of the patient.

“This violates section 72 of the Information Technology Act,” he said.

A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice RP Sondurbaldota, dismissed the petition, and 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.”

The silent observer system consists of software and an attached device which captures all images taken by the machine. A pilot project of the scheme was introduced in Kolhapur in May last year.

The bench while dealing with the privacy argument said that the images can be viewed only by an authorised person, not below the rank of a deputy superintendent of police, and that too after due permission from the district collector.

The bench accepted the arguments made in favour of the Kolhapur district collector Laxmikant Deshmukh by senior counsel Ashutosh Kumbhkoni, who said: “Since the installation of the device, the filling of ‘Form F’, a mandatory requirement under the Pre-Conception And Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, has increased 34% as the process is now online. Earlier, doctors would either underreport or give false reports about the foetus test conducted by them, thus enhancing the chances of female foeticide.”

The collector, whose initiative is supported by the state government and the Centre, was praised by the court. The bench said: “We hope the scheme brings about a balanced child sex ratio.”

The state government argued: “The doctors of Kolhapur district are supporting the collector and it is with their consent and advice that the scheme has been implemented.”

In June, a full bench of the Bombay High court had ruled that authorities have the power to seize and seal sonography machines, which are used for sex detection of foetuses in hospitals and clinics.