The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Court order on probing kidney racket still stands

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Friday, Aug 17, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Court order on probing kidney racket still stands

Staff Reporter

A single judge’s order has not been challenged

Several cases of unrelated donors had come from Ramanagaram
The police were asked to submit a report in two months

BANGALORE: The Chief Minister’s home constituency of Ramanagaram, which today is perceived as a centre of the kidney sale racket, was in the news back in 2004 when the Karnataka High Court had observed that several cases of unrelated donors had come from there.

The court had then observed that 57 applications for organ transplant had been received by the Authorisation Committee for Transplantation of Human Organs. Of the 57, it found that 31 applicants are relatives of patients who wanted to undergo transplant. Of the 26 unrelated cases, 11 were from Ramanagaram.

The court was then dealing with petitions by K. Subramanya of Bangalore and Lakshman of Ramanagaram. Dr. Subramanya was suffering from renal failure and he had to undergo kidney transplant. Mr. Lakshman had offered to “donate” one of his kidneys and an application was filed before the Authorisation Committee.

The committee had rejected the application and both men had challenged this before a single judge. Even as the case was being heard, the petitioners sought permission to withdraw. The court obliged them and then directed the government advocate to place before it records to find out the total number of applicants from Ramanagaram and in and around Ramanagaram taluk.

The single judge had then asked the Director-General of Police to find out whether all these 26 unrelated donors had offered to donate their kidneys or whether any money had been promised to them. It had directed the police to submit within two months a report on the issue.

The single judge’s order apparently was not challenged and it remains in force to this day.

What remains to be seen is whether the police had conducted the investigation as per the court order or whether they thought there was no need to conduct an inquiry as the petition was dismissed as withdrawn.

Legal experts opine that even if a case is dismissed as withdrawn, the directions given are binding, more so in such cases where public health and safety are involved.

They conclude that the direction given to the police still stands as the order has not been challenged.

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