Justice Kailash Gambhir asked the Directorate General of Health Services to decide on woman patient Urmila Anand's plea against the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital's decision in the light of an earlier ruling of the high court that one can donate ones organ out of his or her love for the recipient.
Referring to the provisions of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, a single judge bench of the high court last month had held that the Act does not prohibit organ donation by a person, who is not a relative.
"What is prohibited is the commercial transaction in the giving and taking of organs and tissues. However, donations offered out of love and affection even amongst those who are not near relatives, is permitted," the high court had ruled.
Justice Gambhir asked the DGHS today to decide on the plea of Urmila Anand of Agra after her counsel told the court that his client, who has been undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital, was in dire need of liver transplantation, but the DGHS had given her no deadline to decide on her plea against the hospital's decision.
In her plea to the court, Anand had claimed that one Gulab Devi, associated with her family for last 30 years, has decided to donate her liver for transplantation out of love and affection as the blood group of none of the three children of the patient, two daughters and a son, has matched.
The counsel said Gulab Devi gave her consent to donate part of her liver after her blood group matched with the patient. (More)
