Chargesheets filed in 3 kidney sale cases, HC told

Madurai: The state on Monday informed Madras high court that chargesheets have been filed in three cases registered in connection with the illegal kidney sale racket in Namakkal district. In its status report, the special investigation team (SIT) submitted that the chargesheets, filed before Kumarapalayam judicial magistrate, named 12 people as accused.A division bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice K K Ramakrishnan took note of the report and closed a public interest litigation filed by S N Sathishwaran of Ramanathapuram district. The petitioner stated that kidney transplants had substantially increased over the years, particularly in several hospitals in the state. Knowing that kidney is a life-saving organ, some people were involved in illegalities, including kidney theft and medical irregularities in transplant of kidneys, which created fear among the people.He said that it came to light that Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital in Perambalur and Cethar Hospital in Trichy were found to have indulged in serious medical malpractices and kidney thefts. He alleged that both hospitals involved in the kidney trafficking racket were connected to political personalities from the ruling DMK. He said the racket came to light when videos and testimonies surfaced online featuring workers from Pallipalayam and nearby areas in Namakkal, particularly from power loom and dyeing mill communities, claiming they were lured into selling kidneys for Rs5 lakh to Rs10 lakh. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a CBI probe into the racket. In Aug 2025, the HC appointed an SIT headed by Prem Anand Sinha (then south zone IG), to probe the organ transplantation racket, particularly kidney transplants, across Tamil Nadu.