Strict punishment is what the doctor ordered, says HC

Dr Sujit Dange has challenged the June 2011 order of `Medical Officer of Health' of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, who suspended his licence permanently for errors in documents and records of tests conducted on pregnant women at his clinic. Dange is also facing a criminal prosecution.

Under the PCPNDT Act, radiologists and gynaecologists have to maintain records, including `form F', where the pregnant woman declares that she does not want to know the sex of her foetus, and the doctor states that while conducting the tests, sex of the foetus was not disclosed to her. The records have to be preserved for two years.

 

As per the civic authority, Dr Dange did not maintain the records. But his petition contended that it was "a minor error", and the action was too drastic.

The division bench headed by Justice D D Sinha, however, rejected this argument. "Such orders are to protect the larger public interest. The Act clearly states that doctors are required to store, maintain and preserve complete records including sonography slides for two years," the bench said.

The intention is to prohibit pre-natal tests for determination of sex and to prevent female foeticide, judges said. "Abuse of such techniques is discriminatory against the female sex and affects the dignity and status of women."

"The order of the civic body is not arbitrary, and it is for the petitioner to prove before the criminal court that there was no inaccuracy in maintaining complete records of the clinic," the High Court said, dismissing the petition.