Gift of life: Calcutta high court OKs kidney transplants after ‘suspicion’ refusal by govt panel

KOLKATA: Two renal-failure patients — one from Madhya Pradesh currently living in Lake Gardens and another from Narendrapur — got a shot at recovery after Calcutta High Court last week permitted two unrelated donors to provide them kidneys.

The order on March 6 came after the state health department's authorisation committee blocked the transplants based on suspicion. The procedure for the Madhya Pradesh woman is likely to be conducted this week and that for the Narendrapur woman next week.

Both patients were on the provisional list for organ transplant and had submitted documents seeking approval for living unrelated donors but their applications were rejected on the basis of general suspicion, disregarding reports by police and SDO, who found nothing wrong.

Justice Krishna Rao directed the authorisation committee to grant permission within 24 hours and issued instructions to the respective hospitals where the transplant surgeries are to take place.

The Narendrapur patient, mother to three minor children, was diagnosed with kidney failure on Nov 4, 2021 and was on dialysis. Belle Vue Clinic advised a transplant on May 30, 2025.

Unable to find a related donor, the family opted for an unrelated donor. A family friend volunteered to donate a kidney out of "affection and not for any other consideration". Although Belle Vue Clinic forwarded the details to the authorization committee along with a verification report from SDO, Barrackpore sub-division, stating there were no unofficial financial dealings, the committee refused the request, stating in writing that an invoice from 2019 appeared to be "freshly prepared, manipulated, and fabricated". Her family then approached the high court.

"This court fails to appreciate that once the donor has given an affidavit... stating the fact that he is a well-wisher of the patient and intends to donate his organ only to save the life of the patient, and during the police verification no financial transaction was found, the authorities have refused the request in a flimsy manner," the HC said.

Similar directions were issued for the woman from MP, whose transplant had also been stalled on similar grounds by the committee but without giving it in writing. Diagnosed with kidney failure on Feb 5, 2024, she was advised a transplant by ILS Hospital. After failing to find a relative, a friend of her husband — a Kolkata resident with an O-positive blood group — volunteered to donate a kidney on "humanitarian grounds". Medical tests confirmed the donor was a suitable match.