M. M. DAS, J.

( 1 ) THOUGH this is an application under Section 439 Cr. P. C. filed by the petitioner for grant of bail, the facts on which the case evolved not only has created sensation throughout the State as well as the country, but also involves interesting and important question to be dealt with.

( 2 ) A few weeks ago, large numbers of aborted foetus were found from various places in the district of Nayagarh. This gave rise to a suspicion in the mind of the general public that probably after sex determination, finding the sex of the foetus to be female, the mothers have chosen for aborting the child.

( 3 ) IT is well known that even after 60 years of independence, in our country, boys and girls are still not given equal preference. Poor families in the society or for that matter, the conservative and old fashioned parents prefer boys and girls are seen as a burden and inferior to boys. This is more fortified due to the social stigma of dowry. On account of the above, in spite of enactments made by the Legislature prohibiting sex determination before birth of the child, the medical practitioners by modern scientific methods, some times disclose the sex of the foetus to the parents giving them an opportunity to either retain or abort the pregnancy. As a result, it has been seen that there is a high degree of foeticide in various parts of the country. This also gives an opportunity to the doctor to make a lot of money taking advantage of the cultural approaches of the people by helping them to get rid of unwanted female foetus.

( 4 ) ONE of the things that has happened because of sex determination is that gender ratio has changed dramatically resulting in an imbalance in the society. Statistics show that in the Northern States of our country, there are 861 girls for every 1000 boys.

( 5 ) IN order to curb this malady in the society, the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Di-agnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (for short, "the Act") was legislated. The said Act was not framed to stiffle the medical professionals, but as a regulatory effort, in which the contribution and the co-operation of the medical professionals is of vital importance which is evident from the scheme of the Act.

( 6 ) AS already indicated above, due to public furor created on account of detection of aborted foetus in large number of Nayagarh, it appears that attempt is being made by the Government to investigate into the matter and find out the culprits on the assumption that the same were female foetuses and illegally aborted in contravention of the provisions of the aforesaid Act. It further appears that the investigation has been directed to find out medical professionals who have conducted illegal abortions contrary to the provisions of the Act. In furtherance of this attempt by the Investigating Agency, it appears that joint verification was conducted by the Chief district Medical Officer, Nayagarh along with the Director, deputy Director, Health and Family Welfare Department and the executive Magistrate, Nayagarh, of various Clinics/diagnostic Centres where facilities for sonography/ ultrasound tests were available at nayagarh, on the assumption that medical professionals might have conducted prenatal sex determination by advising the expected mothers to undertake a sonography test. It would be apt to mention here that without ascertaining as to whether the aborted foetuses were female one's or not, to carry out investigation with regard to faults of the medical practitioners is not only dicey, but also led to exodus of almost all specialists in Gynaecology from Nayagarh, creating immense hardship to patients requiring their service. The administration was brought under high pressure due to wide publicity of this news in both print and electronic media.

( 7 ) BEFORE delving into the facts of the case, this Court feels it appropriate to refer to certain materials from well known sources as it considers such materials to be r