The order recorded that a man was clinically examined by the doctors of Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences and he was issued a certificate advising a kidney transplant given the nature of his disease. A family friend offered to donate one of her kidneys and even filed an affidavit before a magisterial court. The donor and her guardian — as mandated under the rules — appeared before the Organ Transplantation Authorisation Board on June 9, but the recipient’s wife was told: “verbally that the case of the husband of the petitioner is not recommended for kidney transplantation”.

Justice Krishna Rao observed that the donor was agreeable to donate her kidney to the husband of the petitioner’s wife.

According to the recipient’s wife, the man was suffering from “End Stage Renal Disease”and was bedridden. The doctors had issued a certificate advising a kidney transplant as a “definitive” treatment for the disease, and a family friend of the husband “voluntarily” agreed to donate one kidney out of her natural love and affection on humanitarian grounds, she added.

Arguments

The wife’s lawyer, advocate Aritra Basu, submitted that the recipient had submitted all requisite documents and the affidavit of the prospective donor along with her guardian’s consent, but the committee did not recommend the case of the petitioner for kidney transplantation. The counsel said that the authorities did not provide any reason for not recommending the case for kidney transplantation.

Unless there was definite material to establish financial dealings, the counsel stressed, permission should not be withheld or rejected. “If the donor was claiming that she was donating the kidney out of love and affection, her statement must not be doubted without any reason,” Basu added.

Advocate Falguni Bandyapadhya, representing the state, submitted that the proposal for permission for transplantation of the husband was submitted on October 29, 2025, and that the verification committee had submitted a report along with the police report after evaluation of the donor and her guardian.

According to Bandyapadhya,  the verification committee submitted a report along with the police report after examining the donor and her guardian and did not find any “special reason” for the donor’s willingness to donate one of her kidneys to the recipient. The committee, as a result, did not recommend the organ transplantation.

The court, however, noted that the donor was acting out of “love and affection and on humanitarian grounds”, but the verification committee hadn’t considered her documents, whereas only taken into account her statement made during her examination. The ruling, therefore, said, “The report of the verification committee dated May 15 and the decision taken by the Authorisation Committee for not recommending the proposal of the donor are set aside and quashed. The Authorisation Committee is directed to reconsider the statement of the donor, her father, the police report and to take a fresh decision within a week.”