No need for prior spousal consent for organ donation under Organ Transplant Act, says Telangana high court

HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Monday directed a hospital not to insist on consent of the spouse for an organ transplant procedure.

Justice K Sarath was dealing with a writ plea filed by a woman seeking to donate a part of her liver to her ailing father. The hospital was insisting on consent from her estranged husband, who had declined to oblige.

The woman’s advocate, senior counsel Prabhaker Sripada, said that there was no provision under the Organ Transplant Act to insist on spousal consent. He said that her husband was wilfully withholding such consent to the detriment of the health of her father.

The judge granted an interim order suspending requirement of a letter of consent, enabling the hospital to go ahead with the liver transplantation.