Court questions procedure for organ transplants

The Bombay high court on Monday questioned the current procedure for human organ transplants, which requires patients to approach the State Authorisation Committee through a recognised hospital, causing delays in deciding applications seeking approval. Kanchan Chaudhari reports.

The Bombay high court on Monday questioned the current procedure for human organ transplants, which requires patients to approach the State Authorisation Committee through a recognised hospital, causing delays in deciding applications seeking approval.

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"Sub-section 5 of section 9 (of the Human Organs Transplantation Act) clearly provides that joint application (by the recipient and the donor) shall be made to the authorisation committee, and not to any private hospital," the division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice KK Tated said while hearing a petition filed by a 17-year-old student.

"In view of this position, is it proper to allow private hospitals to accept joint applications," the judges sought to know from assistant government pleader Molena Thakur.

The query came after Thakur submitted that the state government had framed rules under the Human Organ Transplantation Act and under the rules joint applications were required to be routed through recognised hospitals. She said it had been done in order to first find out if it was possible to transplant the organ from the donor to the recipient.

The judges, however, said the procedure appeared to be contrary to provisions of the law.

The court was hearing a petition by the student with renal failure since birth. After a 30-year-old driver working in his mother's office expressed willingness to donate a kidney, they had, on January 1, 2013, made a joint application to the authorisation committee as well as to the Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune. Both moved high court after neither the hospital nor the authorisation committee took any decision, although the student has been recommended a renal transplant urgently.