SC DIRECTS MICROSOFT, GOOGLE AND YAHOO
TO DROP FOETAL SEX TEST ADVERTISEMENTS IMMEDIATELY
“Whether
one is going to have a boy or a girl, that kind of information is not necessary
in India. The sex ratio is going down in the country and we are concerned about
that. Whether you are making money or not we are not concerned with that”
-
Supreme Court
Supreme
Court today (16/11/2016) directed Microsoft, Google and Yahoo to block all
pre-natal sex determination advertisements hosted by them as it was a violation
of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex
Selection) Act, 1994 as per which sex determination of the foetus is prohibited
in India.
A
bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the search engines to do so within 36
hours of a nodal agency of the Centre, which is to be appointed, pointed out to
them each such advertisements.
The nodal agency is also empowered to receive
complaints from the general public:
“Union of India shall constitute a nodal
agency which would give advertisments on TV, radio and in newspapers that if
anybody comes across anything which identify a girl or a boy (at pre-natal
stage), it should be brought to the notice of the nodal agency. Once it is
brought to the notice of the nodal agency, it shall inform the search engines
and they, after receiving the information, are obliged to delete it within 36
hours and inform the nodal agency, the bench said.
The
apex court, which fixed the matter for further hearing on February 17 next
year, said the interim arrangement would continue till the issue pertaining to
advertisements relating to pre-natal sex determination was debated upon before
it.
The
apex court was acting on a petition filed by Sabu Mathew George who is a member
of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee set up by the SC in 2003 to
inspect and report the implementation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994.
The plea said such advertisements flooded the
internet after the Pre-Natal Diagnostics Technique (PNDT) Act, which came into
force in 1994 to crack down on female foeticide, and banned the publication of
such ads in the print media.
According
to the latest estimates, five lakh female foetuses are aborted annually.
UNICEF,
in a recent report, said that India has lost over one crore girls since 2007.
Eighty
per cent of the districts in India have recorded an increasingly skewed sex
ratio since 1991, the report said.
The
1994 (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) Act says nobody shall
propagate (pre-natal sex determination) and if anyone is propagating, it has to
be stopped, it said. Whatever is prohibited under the Act cannot go through it
(websites), the bench observed, adding, If anyone comes across anything which
offends or has an impact on the sex ratio in India, it shall be removed by the
search engines within 36 hours. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was
appearing for Google India Pvt Ltd, said they have complied with the earlier
order passed by the apex court in the matter and they have already taken steps
to block any such advertisements.
The
counsel appearing for the other search engines also said that they have taken
steps to comply with the provisions of the Act. However, they contended that
the matter requires further debate.
Copy
of Order is attached.
*****
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