SC refuses to stay Centre's April 4 notification suspending implementation of PCPNDT rules

NEW DELHI: 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 Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex-selection Rules), 1996 (PCPNDT), were suspended till June 30, 2020 due to the COVID-19 induced

lockdown.

The top court observed that there is a national crisis due to COVID-19 and doctors' services were needed to be conserved for the Pandemic.

A bench of Justices U Ulalit, M Mshantanagoudar and Vineet Saran issued notice to the Centre and also gave liberty to the petitioner to raise the issue again, if the notification is renewed beyond June

30.

The bench said that it won't be possible for it to interfere with the notification at this stage and posted the matter for further hearing in the month of July.

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.

It said that despite the requirement for maintenance of records being a standard feature of laws regulating medical practices, in the present instance, the PCPNDT Rules have been arbitrarily selected and suspended, under the guise of the lockdown.

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. It said that this notification is entirely without jurisdiction and a nullity, as the PCPNDT Act, does not give any powers for the suspension of the Rules made thereunder.

The action of the Central Government in suspending certain Rules under the PCPNDT Act, 1994, despite not having the power to do so, violates Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as (in addition to being without jurisdiction) the Central Government has arbitrarily and selectively weakened a legislation aimed at curbing the pernicious activity of sex-selection and sex-determination, it said.