Prerna Gala
Published on: 12 September, 2022 at 16:25 IST
The Supreme Court, in the matter of a young boy seeking permission to donate his liver to save his father’s life, requested the Uttar Pradesh Health Secretary’s response.
Only adults and recently deceased adolescents are permitted to donate organs under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act. The courts have, however, given the process some latitude in unusual situations.
For urgent listing, the petition was brought before a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha.
Before giving notice to the State of UP, the Court took it up on the board and heard it.
In the present instance, the petitioner’s attorney claimed that the son is willing to donate his liver in order to preserve the life of his father, who is in critical condition and in need of a liver transplant.
The court reasoned that the donor should be major as per the governing statute.
The family sent a letter to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government’s Health Secretary regarding this, and later on, they filed the current petition through attorney Seshatalpa Sai Bandaru.
“Considering the urgency, we issue a notice returnable on Monday, September 12th, 2022. Dasti, in addition, is permitted. Liberty to serve the learned standing counsel for the State is granted.”
“The Registry shall independently send an appropriate communication to the learned standing counsel as well as the Health Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Government, Lucknow,” the Court said.
The matter will be finally resolved on Monday, September 12; the bench has requested that a “responsible officer” from the UP Health Department be present in court on that day.
The petitioner may undergo basic medical examinations in the interim to determine whether organ donation is possible, the bench added.