CHANDIGARH: An Ambala court on Tuesday sentenced four persons, including a woman, to two years' rigorous imprisonment after they were held guilty of violating the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act pertaining to illegal sex determination test of the foetus. The judicial magistrate first class (JMIC) Rekha also slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 each on all four convicts.

The incident dates back to July 9, 2012, when a team of health officials conducted a raid on a house owned by Jaspal Singh in Sondha village of Ambala. During the raid, it was found that a quack identified as Pankaj Gupta was conducting sex determination test on Manjinder Kaur, a resident of Banur town of Patiala district in Punjab. Manjinder was brought to the centre by Gagandeep Singh, a tout hired by Pankaj for luring those looking to get the sex determination tests done.

It was found that Pankaj was using an illegal ultrasound machine for conducting SDTs. The raiding party had also recovered medicines and equipment allegedly used for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) from the premises. The raiding party had sealed the house after taking the ultrasound machine and other things in possession. Since then all four were facing trial in the court.

On May 30, the court had convicted Jaspal, quack Pankaj, Manjinder and Gagandeep. "Manjinder already had two daughters and had come for the sex determination test of her third child. Since the raiding party reached well in time, she could not undergo the test. During investigations it was found that she had intended to go for the termination of the pregnancy," Ambala civil surgeon Dr Vinod Gupta told reporters.

