Health officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited Shah Rukh Khan's home in Bandra after reports emerged of him and wife Gauri Khan allegedly having conducted pre-natal diagnostic techniques (PNDT) tests to ascertain the sex of their surrogate baby.
The visit comes following the news that Gauri and Shah Rukh are having a third child - a boy - through surrogacy. The superstar would be in deep trouble if the civic body proves that he indeed carried out PNDT tests.
According to the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, punishment for a doctor who conducts sex determination tests is three years in jail while it is five years for a man who asks for such tests. Officials acted after advocate Varsha Deshpande, who works in the field of female infanticide, complained to the state government about the illegality of the PNDT tests.
Receiving instructions from the State Health Minister Suresh Shetty, officials from the civic body visited Khan's home in Bandra.
Confirming the news, Arun Bamne, BMC's executive health officer, said, `Shah Rukh Khan was not in town when the officials went to his home in Bandra.
The official report will be submitted soon. ` He also confirmed that health officials met SRK's secretary, `They however denied the test, ` added Bamne. When MiD DAY tried to contact Pooja Dadlani, Khan's secretary, she refused to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, Jaslok Hospital has also sent out a clarification after reports surfaced that Shah Rukh and Gauri visited the same doctor as Aamir and wife Kiran had for their surrogacy - Dr Firuza Parikh.
`Dr Firuza Parikh, the director of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics at Jaslok Hospital has not done the surrogacy for Mr and Mrs Shah Rukh Khan. She is not involved in the care of their alleged surrogacy, ` said an official spokesperson for the hospital.
