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Prayagraj, 11 October (Hindustan Reporter). Allahabad High Court said that the police do not have the authority to investigate crimes related to gender testing. Under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PCPNDT Act), only the competent authority has been given the power to take legal action.
The court says that the PCPNDT Act is a complete code in itself. It includes all the necessary provisions related to investigation, search, seizure and filing of complaints. Accepting the petition of Bulandshahr's doctor Brij Pal Singh, Justice Anish Kumar Gupta has canceled the proceedings of the case against the doctor.
A complaint was filed against the petitioner alleging that he was trying to determine fetal sex. On which Tehsildar Khurja of Bulandshahr Kotwali Nagar police station submitted a report in 2017 alleging that the sex of the fetus of pregnant women is being identified in Shobha Ram Hospital. SI Subhash Singh registered an FIR on this report. All the members of the police team signed as witnesses to the said incident. A case was registered against the petitioner along with two other accused. The police investigated and presented the charge sheet before the magistrate on 6 August 2017. After this the Chief Judicial Magistrate issued summons. Petitioner Dr. Brij Pal Singh challenged this in the High Court. Demanded to cancel the entire action including the summoning order.
The doctor's lawyer argued that no FIR could be registered against him for violation of the PCPNDT Act. Only the competent authority can lodge a complaint.
The Court said that registration of FIR for violation of PCPNDT Act is unacceptable. No investigation is allowed to the police for an offense under the Act. The Court clarified that no magistrate can take cognizance of a crime on the basis of a police report. The court can take cognizance only on the complaint of the competent authority. On this basis the court canceled the entire proceedings of the case.
