The Supreme Court on Thursday held that police
cannot investigate offences under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.
The PCPNDT Act was enacted with the intent to
prohibit the use of prenatal diagnostic techniques for determination of the sex
of the foetus.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar
Singh held that authorities designated under the law must take action in such
cases.
The top court said the PCPNDT Act concerns matters
that are technical and which may require medical knowledge and sensitivity.
"Police are not meant to be the investigators
for the purposes of this Act," the bench said, adding that police can only
play a supplementary role according to the provisions.
"The restriction applies only to offences under
this Act and does not restrict the police's power to investigate and to
prosecute independent offences disclosed in the substantive criminal law,"
the bench said.
The apex court's judgement came in a case concerning
the police's power to register FIRs and investigate offences under the
Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex
Selection) Act, 1994.
A detailed judgement is awaited.