Indurikar Maharaj, a religious leader from the Ahmednagar district of western Maharashtra, has suggested that a couple should have sex on even dates to have a male child, while for a female child they should have sex on odd dates.
He also suggested that if the intercourse is timed poorly, the child would bring bad luck to the family.
"If intercourse with woman is done on even date, a male child is born and if intercourse is done on odd date, a girl child is born. If intercourse is done on inauspicious timing, the child that is born, would bring a bad name to the family," Indurikar was quoted by Indian Wire agency PTI.
A video of the same has been posted by Marathi newspaper Lokmat on their Twitter handle.
Following the controversial sermon, a regulatory panel under a law to stop female foeticide served a notice to Indurikumar under the provisions of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act; the law was adopted to ban attempts to select a baby's sex.