CHENNAI: Finding that the Authorisation Committee rejected the application for a kidney transplant involving a Bangladeshi minor based on doubts over the spousal relationship between the child's parents, the Madras High Court directed the panel to grant immediate approval for the procedure.
Criticising the committee, Justice GR Swaminathan said spousal relationship was irrelevant and that the panel should have only considered whether the recipient was the son of the donor. The order was thus vitiated by irrelevant consideration and was liable to be set aside, he said.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a Bangladeshi minor and his parents challenging the committee's refusal to approve the transplant. Though the procedure was to be done in November 2025, they were unable to obtain the required e-Apostille certificate from Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs due to the unstable political situation that prevailed in the country then. The certificate was eventually secured on February 15, and the minor's mother, who was found to be a compatible donor, came forward to donate a kidney.
However, after holding an inquiry, the committee rejected the application on the ground that the marital relationship between the parents had not been established.
Opposing the plea, the government argued that large-scale organ trafficking necessitated strict scrutiny of such applications and contended that courts should ordinarily not interfere with decisions taken by the expert committee constituted for that purpose.
After hearing both sides, the court held that by raising doubts about the parents’ spousal relationship, the committee stigmatised the minor and said it should have approached the issue with more sensitivity.
Also, if the common sense showed that the documents produced by the applicants established a near relationship, approval ought to be given, it said.
Justice Swaminathan also noted that the parties had submitted passports, visas, a DNA report, the minor's Birth Registration Certificate, the minor's 10th Standard/SSC result, and national identity cards issued by the Bangladesh government. From these documents, it could be concluded that the parents were husband and wife, and that the minor was born to them through wedlock, the court said.
Thus, the order of the Authorisation Committee had to be interfered with, the court held.