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In a rare order, the Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned health secretaries of 11 major states after finding that its orders for registration of ultrasound clinics and prosecution of those resorting to illegal sex-determination have not been complied with.
The court directed the health secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal to be present personally on January 29 to explain the steps taken by their states to implement the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) (PNDT) Act, 1994.
Expressing serious doubts about the willingness of officers to implement the Act, a three-judge bench comprising Justice M B Shah, Justice B N Agrawal and Justice Arijit Pasayat said, "For non-compliance of the court orders, the health secretaries are directed to be present before the court."
This order was passed by the court while hearing a petition filed by CEHAT, an NGO, alleging that large-scale illegal sex-determination tests were taking place in India leading to female foeticide resulting in an abnormal male-female sex ratio.
On the suggestion of Solicitor General Harish Salve, the bench also issued notices to five multi nationals - Philips, Symonds, Toshiba, Larsen & Toubro and Wipro GE - the manufacturers of ultrasound machines to give the names and addresses of the clinics and persons in India to whom they sold these machines in the last five years to help the government find out whether these clinics or persons were registered under the Act.
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