( 1 ) IN this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of sections 2, 3-A, 4 (5) and 6 (c) of the Pre-Conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection)Act, 1994 (for short, "the said Act") as amended by The Prenatal diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse)Amendment Act, 2002 (for short, "the Amendment Act, 2002" ).

( 2 ) BEFORE dealing with the contentions raised in the petition, it must be stated that challenge to the constitutional validity of the said Act on the ground of violation of Article 21 of the Constitution of India has been rejected by this Court in (Vinod Soni and Anr. Vs. Union of India and Ors.), 2005 (2) Bom. C,r. (Cri.)417 : 2005 (3) Mh. L. J. 1131. It is not open to the petitioners to raise the same challenge again. We shall, therefore, only deal with the petitioners' contention that the said Act violates the principle of equality of law enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

( 3 ) THE petitioners are a married couple having two female children. It is their case as disclosed in the petition that they are d