PIL in Delhi HC to make organ transplant easy

New Delhi: A week after CNN-IBN's report on the loopholes in the organ transplant act, the demand to change the law has gained momentum.

Investigations into the multi-crore Gurgaon kidney racket is on but the law under which the accused may face charge is itself under scrutiny.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is to be filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday, questioning the 'The Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994'.

"If someone wants to take a kidney from some one the procedure is so lengthy. They have to approach the courts, get some affidavit. So there is a lot of stress," Rakesh Prabhakar, who is filing the PIL, says.

The PIL demands that the Act be changed so that patients who require organ transplant benefit from it.

It should wants that a medico-legal panel of experts headed by a retired Chief Justice of Supreme Court should look into the Act.

Moreover, proper infrastructure should be created so that organs of brain-dead patient can be automatically retrieved.

CNN-IBN had reported last week that the stringent provisions of the law were making it difficult for patients to get donors.

The Act stipulates that only a family members can donate his organs and in case the donor is outside the family he/she will have to prove emotional attachment through affidavits in a court of law.

Demands to change the law started ever since the kidney racket of Gurgaon was exposed. But now with the matter reaching the judiciary looks like the authorities will have to do some serious rethink about the validity of the law.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)