A court in Hisar has granted default bail to a Barwala-based doctor accused of conducting illegal sex determination tests, after police failed to file a chargesheet within the mandatory 60-day window. The Additional Sessions Judge Natasha Sharma of the Fast Track Special Court heard his regular bail application on April 2, sought a prosecution response, and on April 15 granted the default bail plea.

Default bail — also called statutory bail — is a legal right that kicks in automatically when an accused person is held in custody but investigators miss the deadline to file formal charges. It is not a judgment on guilt; it simply penalizes investigative delay. The 60-day deadline applies to offences where the maximum punishment is less than life imprisonment or death.

The Charges and the Raid

The doctor was allegedly caught during a raid on a private clinic in the Azad Nagar police station area of Hisar. A Health Department team led by Dr Anamika Bishnoi conducted the operation based on specific intelligence. Police registered a case under the PCPNDT Act — the law that bans prenatal sex selection and disclosure of a fetus's sex — along with Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

This is not a first for the accused. Cases tied to illegal sex determination have been filed against him going back to 1999, with further action in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and October 2023. In that most recent 2023 case, health officials from Hisar and Sirsa jointly busted a fetal sex determination racket linked to him. The repeat pattern suggests persistent enforcement gaps, even as successive cases have been registered over more than two decades.

Political Background

Beyond his medical practice, the doctor has contested multiple Assembly elections from the Barwala constituency, running as an independent candidate and also on behalf of the JJP (Jannayak Janta Party).

The case draws attention to a recurring problem in PCPNDT enforcement: raids and arrests do not always translate into timely prosecution. When chargesheet deadlines are missed, accused individuals walk out on default bail regardless of the evidence gathered, resetting the legal clock. With a long record of prior cases and now another bail secured on procedural grounds, the outcome here will likely be watched by health officials and legal observers tracking sex-selective practice enforcement in Haryana.