SC raps Google, Yahoo and Microsoft for failing to check pre-birth test ads

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Google, Yahoo and Microsoft for failing to check advertisements pertaining to pre-natal sex determination, saying they were violating the Indian law.

A Bench of Justice Dipak Misra and R. Banumathi asked the Centre to convene a meeting of technical experts and those with the search engines within 10 days to explore ways to block such advertisements.

“They are violating the Indian law and are saying that they cannot do anything. It is not acceptable and this needs to be controlled. They can’t put anything which is against the law of the country,” the Bench said.

It directed the Centre to hold the meeting and also allow the petitioner, Dr. Sabu Mathew George, to participate in it.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said that companies were violating the PCPNDT Act by displaying advertisements on sex determination on their websites.

Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 was enacted to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. It banned pre-natal sex determination.