The Kerala High Court has held that the Authorisation Committee under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, should not refuse approval for transplantation of organs merely on the ground of gross disparity in the financial status of the parties.
The court made the observation while allowing a petition filed by M.T.P. Shihabudeen of Kasaragod challenging the order of the Authorisation Committee declining approval for the transplantation of a kidney of a person employed in his fruit shop. The committee refused approval on the ground of disparity in the financial status of the donor and recipient.
The court observed that the gross disparity in the financial status was a factor to be gone into by the committee to ascertain whether there was any financial dealings in the transaction. But that did not mean that the committee was prevented from granting approval for transplantation, if there was gross disparity in the financial status of the parties. The sub-rule (3) provides that gross disparity in the financial status of the parties shall be evaluated in the backdrop of the objective of the statute.
Voluntary donation
The court said that voluntary donation of an organ by a person was of the highest order and it was inhuman to hold that such sacrifices would be made by people only based on monetary considerations. The court said that the statute did not prohibit transplantation. It only regulated transplantation with a view to avoid exploitation.