The Maharashtra government has filed a case against noted Pune-based Ayurvedic practitioner and author Dr. Balaji Tambe for violating the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC-PNDT) Act after he allegedly prescribed the chanting of certain mantras to beget a male child in a popular book authored by him.
The case was lodged at a Judicial First Class Magistrate court in Sangamner in Ahmednagar district, after Dr. Tambe failed to reply to a show cause notice issued against him on this matter earlier in January this year.
Dr. Tambe, known for his Ayurvedic ‘panchkarma’ treatment, has authored the popular book ‘Ayurvediya Garbha Sanskar’ which has become a source of controversy following the notice.
The notice was issued to Dr. Tambe and his publisher and a book seller at Sangamner following a complaint by activist Ganesh Borhade under section 20(1) of the PC-PNDT Act.
Mr. Borhade had claimed that Dr. Tambe’s book contains chapters which expressly stipulate that certain ‘vedic mantras’ needed to be heard and chanted by the pregnant woman during delivery.
“In Tambe’s book, if the first child is a girl and the parents want the second one to be a male, then certain rituals must be followed. I thought this was shocking and hence I formally lodged a complaint in November last year,” Mr. Borhade said. Dr. Tambe could face up to three years of imprisonment in the event of the charges being proved.
