MUMBAI: Varsha Deshpande of ‘Lek Wachwa Andolan’ was responsible for getting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Shah Rukh Khan’s tail regarding the alleged sex-determination issue. But little did she know that she’d in turn have a legal notice to her name. 

Representatives of Jaslok Hospital and Dr. Firuza Parikh, Director of the IVF Centre at Jaslok Hospital have served Varsha Deshpande a legal notice for making false statements regarding the alleged sex-determination and surrogacy done by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

The notice states that neither Jaslok Hospital nor Dr. Firuza Parikh are involved in the alleged sex-determination and surrogacy.

The notice claims that Dr. Firuza Parikh is a celebrated doctor, among the top ten in India, and has been a pioneering doctor at Jaslok Hospital since 1989. She has even invented techniques like Cumulus Aided Transfer, using it for the first time in the world.

The notice also reveals that Dr. Firuza Parikh had, in fact, called up Varsha Deshpande to clarify about the issue, but apparently Varsha Deshpande acted rude towards her and said that she did not believe the doctor or the hospital.

The notice further asks Varsha Deshpande to provide the details of the sources of the alleged information and “tender an unconditional apology” failing which she would be held accountable for defamation and for maligning Jaslok Hospital and Dr. Firuza Parikh.

The entire alleged sex-determination and surrogacy issue has resulted in a messy time not only for Shah Rukh Khan, but for the activist Varsha Deshpande as well. We’ll wait and watch how this goes.