Supreme Court asks states to submit report on girl child ratio

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all states and union territories to submit by the month-end their quarterly reports with the Centre on issues including registration of birth, to ascertain the girl child ratio in the country.

A bench of justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh expressed unhappiness over non-filing of reports by various states under Rule 18A of the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostics Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Rules.

It said the appropriate authorities "shall submit quarterly progress report to the Government of India through the State Government" on tenth day of the succeeding month after a quarter.

During the hearing, the bench was informed that the court -appointed National Inspection and Monitoring Committee has been supplied with requisite information by Odisha government on prosecution of offenders under the PC-PNDT Act and convictions of the accused and the sex ratio in the state.

It also expressed displeasure over the declining sex ratio of girl child in Odisha where it has gone down below 900 in two districts.

Earlier, the court had expressed displeasure over the conduct of various governments for not giving wide publicity to its directions on female foeticide on strict implementation of law prohibiting sex determination.

The court had noted that Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of sex selection) Act has been in operation from 1994 but only 159 cases have been instituted and 126 cases are pending since 2012-2013 in various courts in Bihar.