Public Interest Litigation in Delhi High Court seeks to ban on sex-selective surgeries

^{Photo by Sadasiv Swain on Flickr}

A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking to declare a ban on medically unnecessary, sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants and children except in cases of life-threatening situations in the national capital.

The public interest litigation was filed by Srishti Madurai Educational Research Foundation through advocates Robin Raju, Yash Prakash and Deepa Joseph.

The petitioner organisation claimed to be at the forefront in spreading awareness about the necessity to ban sex-selective surgeries on infants with intersex traits.

The petitioner said that the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in January 2021 had given a considered opinion that the Respondent Delhi government and its state Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should declare a ban on medically unnecessary, sex-selective surgeries on intersex infants and children except in cases of life-threatening situations but no decision has been taken on the opinion of DCPCR.

"That the issue of sex-selective surgeries or medically unnecessary normalizing surgeries has a long lasting drastic psychological impact on the minds of intersex people and deters...