3 Aug 2010

Natural love and affection sufficent to donate organ: High Court

Holding that affection between cousin brothers was sufficient reason for one to donate organs for the betterment by transplanation to another, the High Court of Orissa in a recently reported decision [Manoranjan Rout v. State of Orissa, AIR 2010 Ori 99] has declared that insistence in such cases to prove non-commercial element of transaction would be contrary to social setting of the country. 

The High Court inter alia observed as under;
There is no material on records also regarding any chance of commercial transaction between the two cousin brothers & out of affection Petitioner No. 2 wants to donate his organ to save the life of his brother-Petitioner No. 1. There is also no material placed on records to doubt about the relationship between the donor & the recipient.
It is true that human conduct & the reactions with regard to save life of another close relation or person cannot be measured in any mathematical term. Human conduct, what Bhagabat Gita calls "Guna" & Prakruti", contains a measure of dark & light, of good & bad. All have the potential to love as much as potential to hurt & also the potential for kindness, generosity & selflessness. How does one ensure that is inter-personal, Lord Krishna drew attention to the crucial & significant link that runs through the entire creation wherein all created beings are inter-dependant & sustain one another with their action. What mankind needs is social order which  will be preserved through selfless & constant action. It is the human nature to take tough decisions. Hence, one is prompted to rise above selfish purpose & work for the mankind & the society.
11. In the present case, there is no material on record to disprove the relationship between the donor & the recipient. Therefore, the necessary approval cannot be denied on the ground of a mere suspicion. The question that the applicants have not produced relevant documents, establishing their relationship, as stated by the Committee, also does not arise when Mrs  Ramadei Singh, Sarpanch of Kuamara Grama Panchayat has certified the relationship between the donor & the recipient as per the Rules, 1995. After all, law is not cast in stone, nor is it that judicial interpretation remains unchanged over time.

1 comment:

randomtalkshop said...

Hi Tarun, I am working on something relating to organ donation and would like to understand the legal aspects. Is there a way I can get in touch with you? My email id is eshasinghalagh@gmail.com. Thanks!