New Delhi, Oct 2: The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to apprise it of the policy on organs harvested from cadavers and whether the information on their donation and swapping are being uploaded on the website or not.
“I also deem it fit to issue directions to respondents (Director General of Health Services and others) to file an affidavit before this court on the policy which has been put in place by the Government of India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with regard to organs harvested from cadavers.
“The affidavit will also disclose as to whether information with regard to swapping requests and donation of organs from cadavers are uploaded on official website...there is an urgent need to inculcate complete transparency, accountability and general awareness in the citizenry at large, in this area, by the State.
The affidavit be filed within a week from today,” Justice Rajiv Shakdher said.
The court gave the direction while dismissing the plea of Agra resident Pawan Anand who had sought the court's permission for liver transplant of his ailing mother with the organ donated by a close family friend.
The organ donation by a person, who is not a “near relative” of the recipient, cannot be allowed if their relationship of “love, affection and attachment” is not established, it said.
Citing provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, Justice Shakdher said the law “permits donation by a person, other than a ‘near relative', for reasons of affection or attachment towards a recipient...” The Act prohibits “commercial dealings” of human organs and there “will rarely be a direct evidence with regard to commercial dealings” which have to be inferred from the facts
in each case,” it said.
