In Brief
A radiologist was prosecuted for illegal sex determination of a foetus under the Pre-Conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994. The case rested entirely on evidence seized during a raid at his clinic. The Supreme Court held that the raid was illegal because it was authorized by only the Civil Surgeon (Chairperson of the Appropriate Authority), not by the Appropriate Authority as a collective decision-making body as required by Section 30(1) of the Act. Since the entire prosecution was founded on illegally seized material, the Court quashed the FIR and complaint, holding that continuing such prosecution would constitute abuse of process of law."
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