New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has quashed an FIR lodged against a woman doctor accused of disclosing the gender of a foetus during an ultrasound procedure. Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, in an order passed last month, ruled that the allegations against the doctor were unsubstantiated and did not establish a violation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC and PNDT) Act.
The court observed that the uncontroverted allegations merely indicated that the doctor performed an ultrasound on a decoy patient. “There is nothing placed on record to satisfy this court that the operation so performed by the petitioner (doctor) was in contravention of the law,” the court noted.
The PC and PNDT Act prohibits prenatal diagnostic techniques from being used to determine the sex of a foetus. The FIR, filed after a 2020 decoy operation at a Hari Nagar ultrasound centre, alleged that the sex of the foetus was disclosed by a lab employee and not the petitioner doctor. Despite more than three years having passed, no chargesheet was filed against the doctor, further casting doubt on the case.
The High Court emphasized that no evidence suggested the petitioner violated Sections 4, 5, or 6 of the PC and PNDT Act, which govern the use of diagnostic techniques and prohibit gender determination. Additionally, the court highlighted the prolonged delay in the prosecution’s progress, stating that it would “avoid any further harassment to the petitioner” by quashing the FIR.
The decision underscores the importance of evidence-based accusations and the need to avoid unwarranted legal action against professionals.
