- (1.)This Court On 4-3-2013 Had Delivered The Judgment In Voluntary Health Assn. Of Punjab V. Union Of India Expressing Its Concern About Female Foeticide And The Reduction Of Sex Ratio And Further How The Persons Who Are Required To Be Involved In Such Awareness For Stopping Of Female Foeticide Should Equip Themselves, And In That Context Had Issued A Number Of Directions. After Enumerating The Directions, The Court Directed All The State Governments To File A Status Report Within A Period Of Three Months.
(2.)In Paras 33 And 34, In A Concurring Opinion, It Had Been Observed Thus: (Voluntary Health Assn. Case, Scc P. 13)
"33. It Is Difficult To Precisely State How An Awareness Camp Is To Be Conducted. It Will Depend Upon What Kind And Strata Of People Are Being Addressed. The Persons Involved In Such Awareness Campaign Are Required To Equip Themselves With Constitutional Concepts, Culture, Philosophy, Religion, Scriptural Commands And Injunctions, The Mandate Of The Law As Engrafted Under The Act And Above All The Development Of Modern Science. It Needs No Special Emphasis To State That In Awareness Camps While The Deterrent Facets Of Law Are Required To Be Accentuated Upon, Simultaneously The Desirability Of Law To Be Followed With Spiritual Obeisance, Regard Being Had To The Purpose Of The Act, Has To Be Stressed Upon. The Seemly Synchronisation Shall Bring The Required Effect. That Apart, Documentary Films Can Be Shown To Highlight The Need; And Instil The Idea In The Mind Of The Public At Large, For When The Mind Becomes Strong, Mountains Do Melt.

34. The People Involved In The Awareness Campaigns Should Have Boldness And Courage. There Should Not Be Any Iota Of Confusion Or Perplexity In Their Thought Or Action. They Should Treat It As A Problem And Think That A Problem Has To Be Understood In A Proper Manner To Afford A Solution. They Should Bear In Mind That They Are Required To Change The Mind-Set Of The People, The Grammar Of The Society And Unacceptable Beliefs Inherent In The Populace."

(3.)When The Matter Was Listed Today, Mr Parikh, Learned Counsel Appearing For Dr Sabu Mathew George In Ia No. 11 Of 2013 In Writ Petition (Civil) No. 349 Of 2006 Has Submitted That Certain Directions In Para 9 May Require Clarification. It Is Also Contended By Him That The Union Of India Has To Animate Itself In An Appropriate Manner To See That The Sex Ratio Is Maintained And Does Not Reduce Further. It Is His Submission That The Central Supervision Committee Which Is Required To Meet To Take Stock Of The Situation Has Not Met For The Last 14 Months. It Is Also Urged That The National Monitoring Committee Which Is Required To Monitor Has Failed In Its Duty. That Apart, The Learned Counsel Would Submit Pointing Out From The Affidavit Filed By The Applicant In Ia No. 11 Of 2013 That The State Of Kerala Has Adopted A Method As A Consequence Of Which Female Foeticide Has Decreased And Sex Ratio Has Increased/Improved. He Has Drawn Our Attention To Paras 8 And 9 Which Read As Follows:
"8. The Sevana Website, Accessed At Www Cr Lsgkerala Gov In Maintained By The Kerala Government (Local Self-Government Department) Provides Details Of All Births And Other Vital Statistics Which Are Electronically Registered By The Local Governments In The Registration Units. Kerala Was The First State In India To Have A Centralised Database Of Civil Registration Records From All Registration Units. This Initiative Of The Kerala Government Has Received Wide Acclaim. Thereby From The Website We Get Information Regarding The Number Of Boys And Girls Being Born.

Public Display Of Birth Data Sex-Wise Provides Transparency About The Performance Of Each State, District And Sub-District In Respect To The Actual Births And Therefore, Helps To Highlight Any Potential Malpractice Of Sex Determination. This Public Knowledge May Dissuade Both The Unethical Medical Professionals And The General Public In The Long Run From Committing Crimes Of Sex Determination And Sex Selective Abortion. As No Community Would Like To Be Stigmatised In The Public Domain Year After Year For Crimes Of Sex Determination Or Sex Selection Committed Secretly.

9. That Below Are Details Of Some Of The Information Displayed On The Website:

(I) The Birth Information Is Summarised For The State. And For Each Unit, District, Municipality, Corporation Or Gram Panchayat Level Data Can Be Obtained By Clicking The Map.

(Ii) Graphs Provide A Visual Comparison Of Boys And Girls Born Over The Past Three Years.

(Iii) This Is Available At The State, District And Other Local Body Levels."