New Delhi: Keeping in mind the health requirements of a man battling advanced chronic liver disease, Delhi High Court has made the rare exception to let his 17-year-old son donate a part of his liver to the patient.Allowing the boy’s plea, Justice Mini Pushkarna Monday noted that though there was no “absolute statutory bar” on a minor donating a living organ, it could be permitted only in exceptional medical circumstances while rigorously complying with the legal framework.Relying on Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Rules, the court directed that the medical procedure upon the petitioner shall be “carried out properly, in compliance with all legal, ethical and clinical protocols” to ensure his health and safety.The law says “living organ or tissue donation by minors shall not be permitted except on exceptional medical grounds to be recorded in detail with full justification and with prior approval of the appropriate authority and the state govt concerned”.The court observed that the boy was the only suitable donor available and was willing to donate out of his own volition, love and affection, and denying such permission might lead to the loss of life of his father. Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, where the boy’s father is undergoing treatment, said it would expeditiously fix a date for the operation.Delhi govt informed the court that lieutenant governor and the appropriate authority had also given their approval. Considering the medical condition of the father, as also the approvals granted through the June 29 letter by the health department, “this court is of the view that the balance of convenience and equities, in the present case, overwhelmingly lie in favour of permitting the proposed liver donation and transplantation”, HC observed.The boy filed the petition through his mother and submitted that his father was undergoing treatment for chronic liver disease with cirrhosis, portal hypertension, mild ascites and liver cell carcinoma. The court was informed that the condition of the father was life threatening and time sensitive, and he had been advised liver transplantation by the hospital as the only viable and life-saving treatment.The high court opined that since the boy was the only compatible donor and he was willing to donate a part of his liver purely out of filial obligation, without any commercial incentive or coercion, there was no impediment in allowing the petition.
