The Delhi High Court on May 9 said that acts like prenatal sex determination cannot be considered less important or trivial. The observation from the court came after hearing a plea against a scene in the trailer of actor Ranveer Singh-starrer ‘Jayeshbhai Jordaar’, wherein an ultrasound tech is used for gender selection.
According to ETimes, acting chief Justice Vipin Sangi and Justice Navin Chawla said after watching the trailer, "There is nothing to show in the trailer that the lady is taken to the doctor clandestinely. What is coming out is, any pregnant woman can be routinely taken to the centre with sonography machine and this can be done without any fetters.”
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The petitioner is an NGO, Youth Against Crime, and their advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak said, "The ultrasound clinic scene where the technology of ultrasound for sex selection is being advertised openly without censor and as per section 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 6 & 22 of the PC & PNDT Act, same is not allowed & hence the instant PIL.”
The petitioner is claiming that even though the message of the film is to ‘Save Girl Child’ and is against female foeticide, the trailer promotes the use of ultrasound technology to determine gender. As the hearing proceeded, the counsel on behalf of the makers said that there is a disclaimer at the start.
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Replying to the same, the bench said that the disclaimer is not visible clearly and asked the counsel to take action. "Unless we see for ourselves and are satisfied, we are not going to permit this. You seek instructions or otherwise, we will have to stay this."
Furthermore, the counsel said that they will produce the entire movie and show the relevant part to the judges. The hearing will continue on May 10. The movie is produced by filmmaker Maneesh Sharma and stars actress Shalini Pandey as the female lead. The film directed by Divyang Thakkar is set to release on May 13.
