In a significant judgment, the Delhi High Court has ruled that “the entire process” of transplanting organs from living donors, from the submission of application to the final decision, “ought not to ideally exceed 6 to 8 weeks”. It also directed the Health Ministry to prescribe specific timelines for each stage of the process.
“The processing of forms, the conduct of interviews and the decision making itself is expected to be within fixed timelines and not in an expanded or elastic manner,” Justice Prathiba M. Singh said, stressing that “delays in such cases can have life-threatening consequences”.
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The High Court gave its direction in a 2020 petition by a former Indian Air Force personnel seeking a kidney transplant. The petitioner died in October 2021 during the pendency of the case, while awaiting a transplant, prompting the High Court to dive deeper into the issues plaguing the system.
Decision-making process
Justice Singh highlighted the need to prescribe specific timelines under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules, 2014 for the Authorisation Committee’s interviews and decision-making processes in organ transplant cases.
The Authorisation Committee’s primary responsibility is to oversee and approve organ transplant procedures involving donors and recipients who are not close relatives. The Committee’s approval is crucial, especially in cases where organs are donated for reasons of affection, attachment, or other special circumstances, to ensure that the donation is not driven by any commercial motives.
‘Six to eight weeks’
The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 and the 2014 Rules definitely do not contemplate many months of deliberation in such cases, the High Court said. “The reason is obvious — if a particular application is to be approved, then the same has to be done in a timebound manner so that the patients do not continue to suffer,” Justice Singh said. If the approval is to be rejected, then also the decision has to be taken quickly so that the recipient can explore other options, the judge added.
“The entire process, from submission to decision, ought not to ideally exceed 6 to 8 weeks,” Justice Singh ordered. The High Court further said that any appeal against an order of the committee should be decided within a maximum of 30 days.
The court ordered that the January 4 judgment be placed before the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to ensure that timelines under the 1994 Act and 2014 Rules are prescribed for all the steps in the process of consideration of applications for organ donation, after consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
