Anushka Sharma-
Published On: November 17, 2021 at 12:34 IST
The Kerala High Court has decided that swap transplants of organs are acceptable even though the Donor and Recipient are not related if there is a compelling reason.
While issuing the Order on Monday, Justice N Nagaresh’s Single-Judge panel also recommended Revisions to the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.
“In a case where a citizen’s life can be protected and preserved only by transplant of human organ or tissue, the citizen has a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution to undergo organ transplantation, which right is subject only to the procedure established by Law. Any Law prescribing procedure for organ transplantation should therefore satisfy the test of reasonableness,” the judgment read.
The Court primarily focused on Section 9 of the Act. While Section 9(3) allows organ transplants between unrelated people, Section 9(3A) Prohibits swap transplantation between unrelated people.
According to the Court, this is illogical and unreasonable. The Decision was made in response to a Petition submitted by two patients and two donors, who were represented by TP Sajid.
One of the Patients’ wives was willing to donate a kidney to her suffering husband, but their blood groups were incompatible. Another Patient’s son was similarly willing to donate his Kidney to his father, but they had difficulty with blood group mismatch.
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