HC paves way for elderly’s transplant
New Delhi, May 1: The Delhi high court, on Monday, directed a private hospital here to immediately grant permission to a woman for donating one of her kidneys to her sonin-law’s father, whose both kidneys stopped functioning two years ago.
The court pulled up Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh in north Delhi for not granting permission for donating the organ on the ground that there were some financial transactions between the two families.
“It is normal in the Indian society for a son-inlaw to help in-laws in need,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said.
The court also noted that patient-petitioner Sanjay Yogi Goel, who had filed the plea through his wife, was undergoing dialysis thrice a week and his condition was deteriorating.
“The case is pending since March 2017. In view of this, the authorisation committee (of Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh) is directed to forthwith grant permission to the proposed donor (woman) to donate one of her kidneys to the proposed donee (Goel),” the judge said.
The court passed the order while disposing of Goel’s petition filed through advocates Rajiv Bajaj and Paras Chawla, seeking quashing of the hospital authority’s decision denying permission for donating the organ and a direction to permit the man to undergo kidney transplant operation at the hospital.
The counsel said the hospital’s authorisation committee had rejected the case of petitioner under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, without giving reasons.
They said there is a family connection between the proposed donor and the recipient and there was no commercial financial transaction, as prohibited under the Act.