Exclusion of transgenders from donating blood: Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on plea challenging bar

Supreme Court issues notice to Union Government challenging exclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals and sex workers from blood donation.

The Supreme Court on August 2 issued a formal notice to the Union Government in a petition challenging the exclusion of gay people, transgenders and women sex workers from donating blood.

Also Read: Plea against ban on blood donation by gay, transgender persons

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud also sought responses from the National AIDS Control Organisation and the National Blood Transfusion Council.

The petition was filed by Sharif D. Rangnekar, represented by advocate Rohit Bhatt and Ibad Mushtaq, who has questioned the validity of Clause 12 of the ‘Guidelines for Blood Donor Selection & Blood Donor Referral, 2017’ issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) and the National Aids Control Organisation on October 11, 2017.

The petition argued that the bar was a violation of the fundamental right to dignity and equality enshrined in the Constitution.

A response filed by the Ministry of Health And Family Welfare in 2023 in another petition filed by a member of the transgender community, Thangjam Santa Singh, had claimed that the exclusion was based on evidence that there was substantial evidence to demonstrate that “transgender persons, men having sex with men and female sex workers are at risk for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C”.