Because five years ago, Dahiya, who retired as Haryana Director General of Health in 2005, and a small team began a war against unscrupulous doctors in a state which today has the second lowest sex ratio in the country.

He was the first to use in-built provisions in the Act to raid and chargesheet doctors willing to abort female foetus for a hefty fee.

“We booked 26 cases of violation of the PNDT Act in one year (2001-2002) and Dr Anil Sabsani (who has been convicted) was one among them,” Dr Dahiya told The Indian Express. He was then a civil surgeon and the appropriate authority under the PNDT Act. Of the 26 cases, chargesheets have been filed in 24.

“We had no spy-cameras to catch doctors red-handed. It took months of intelligence gathering, planning, raising a committed team before raiding a sex-determination clinic,” he said.

Post-retirement, he’s still travelling, motivating others like him to keep up the pressure.

“When I heard the decision of the court, my first instinct was to call all members of my team and congratulate them. Some of them are still working with the government and they are doing the follow-up in the courts,” he said.

“The Palwal court verdict is just the first step in saving the girl child. We have a long way to go.”

Recalling the first raid at a clinic in Ballabgarh—the case is still at the trial stage—Dahiya said it took nine months of preparation. “We had just tape recorders and video cameras with us. We kept the police outside the clinic but they were not involved.” The doctor he apprehended flaunted his connections with an MP. “There was tremendous pressure on me to withdraw the case but I did not oblige them.”

He recalled how they were once gheraoed while conducting a raid in Palwal. “I tactically withdrew, only to raid him again latter.” On another occasion, he sent a young doctor as a rickshaw-puller with a decoy customer to a clinic.

On the personal front, it has not been easy. “It was a painstaking job. I have had no time for my family ever since I took up this campaign. I used to prepare case files myself. In Dr Sabsani’s case, I prepared a nine-page report with the annexures running into some 200 pages.” “The PNDT Act is a powerful tool in the hands of bureaucrats. They must stop blaming society for foeticide and start cleaning the dirt in these clinics,” he said.