STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The High Court, in the full text of a recently released verdict, observed that prenatal gender detection directly facilitates sex-selective abortion, discrimination against female children, demographic imbalance and violence against women.

“Such practices violate fundamental right to life, equality and non-discrimination guaranteed under Articles 18, 27, 28, 31 and 32 of the Constitution of Bangladesh,” said the HC bench of Justice Naima Haider, who resigned on February 5 this year, and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque in the nine-page verdict.

“Articles 27 and 28 ensure equality before law and prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex. Gender detection institutionalises discrimination even before birth, resulting in structural inequality and demographic imbalance...,” the judges observed.

The bench delivered the verdict on February 25, 2024, following a four-year-old petition seeking prohibition of prenatal sex detection to ensure protection of babies and pregnant mothers.

Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan filed the public interest litigation with the High Court on January 26, 2020.

The Directorate General of Health Services has formulated a guideline titled “National Guideline for the Prevention of Son Preference and the Risk of Gender-Biased Sex Selection, 2022”, discouraging disclosure of the sex of unborn babies for non-medical reasons.

In the full text, the HC bench directed the health ministry to maintain a regularly

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