Sabu Mathew George v. Union of India
In the Supreme Court of India
WP(C) 341/2008
Before Justice Dipak Misra & Justice Prafulla C. Pant
Decided on May 12, 2015

Relevancy of the case: Blocking advertisements related to preconception and prenatal determination of sex on search engines

Statutes & Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 69A)
• The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (Section 22)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• A writ petition filed in the year 2008 to ban the advertisements which appear on the search engines which are related to preconception and prenatal determination of sex, according to the condition specified under Section 22 of the PCPNDT Act, 1994.

Opinion of the Bench

• As an interim measure, it is directed that the respondents, namely, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft shall not advertise or sponsor any advertisement which would violate Section 22 of the PCPNDT Act, 1994.

Final Decision

• The additional affidavit filed is allowed and directed the respondents to take down all the information which constitutes keywords such as “prenatal diagnostic tests for selection of sex before or after conception, pre-natal conception test, pre-natal diagnostic, pre-natal fetus copy for sex selection, pre-natal ultrasonography for sex selection, sex selection procedure, sex selection technique, sex selection test, sex selection administration, sex selection prescription, sex selection services, sex selection management, sex selection process, sex selection conduct, pre-natal image scanning for sex selection, pre-natal diagnostic procedure for sex selection, sex determination using scanner, sex determination using machines, sex determination using equipment, scientific sex determination and sex selection.”
• If there is any such information available on search engines except the respondents, that content must be taken down immediately as per Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.