E-Paper
SC relief for 3-year-old American child barred by rules to receive donor liver
The three-year-old was admitted at Medanta hospital for treatment of Decompensated Biliary Cirrhosis and only a transplant can save the child’s life
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday came to the rescue of a 3-year-old child, a US citizen, in critical need of a donor liver by directing the authorisation committee constituted under the Organ Transplantation Act to urgently process his parents’ request for a donation from a distant cousin even though relevant rules permit that a foreign citizen can only receive an organ in India from a near relative.
A bench of justices AS Bopanna and PS Narsimha on Wednesday directed the family of the child to move an application before the Committee directing the latter to process the same with the necessary documents the same day.
The child is currently admitted at the paedeatric intensive care unit of Gurugram-based Medanta hospital with a condition of liver failure and is reported to be in a critical stage with the examining doctors recommending a liver transplant at the earliest.
On Thursday, additional solicitor general (ASG) appearing for the committee told Aishwarya Bhati the Court that the matter has proceeded in the right earnest and the cousin of the child’s father, a resident of Gurudaspur in Punjab, was found medically eligible to donate the liver. However, few documents remain to be furnished before the final decision can be taken.
Posting the matter to Tuesday, the bench lauded the committee, the hospital and all stakeholders for convening the meeting and supplying all necessary documents. Bhati informed the Court that the committee was awake till 2 am to consider the application.
“We place on record our appreciation for authorisation and convening the matter with available documents...the process also includes counseling of the willing donor by the hospital and thereafter a decision is to be taken. List on Tuesday,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appearing for the petitioner informed the Court that the case before the Court presented a precarious situation where the mother is undergoing pregnancy treatment while the father’s blood group does not match with the child. The couple along with their minor son are residing in the US and had arrived in India in February this year. The couple obtained Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status in 2022.
The child was admitted at Medanta hospital on October 24 for treatment of Decompensated Biliary Cirrhosis, a condition which results from liver failure and only a transplant can save the minor’s life.
The authorisation committee under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act and Rules has to approve the organ donation where the donor or recipient is a foreign national. Desperate to save their child, when the parents contacted the committee before approaching the Court, it was orally communicated that the transplantation cannot go through.
The committee cited Section 9 of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 which deals with restrictions on removal and transplantation of human organs and tissues. This provision states, “The authorisation committee shall not approve such removal or transplantation if the recipient is a foreign national and the donor is an Indian national unless they are near relatives.”
The petition before the Supreme Court filed by the minor recipient and the Indian donor told the Court that this restriction does not get attracted in case of an Overseas Citizen of India. Even as the legal issue is yet to be determined, considering the urgency of saving the child, the petitioner’s lawyer Swati Vaibhav moved a letter before the Supreme Court Registry on October 30 seeking urgent listing.
The matter was placed for consideration of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) who directed the matter to be listed before the present bench on Wednesday. The child was born in the US in October 2020 and has been residing in India with his parents since February this year. He initially developed vomiting and was admitted at PGI Chandigarh from where he was referred to Medanta.
