Nothing Like Criminal Kidney: Kerala High Court's Observation On Organ Donation

"There is no difference between the organ of a person without criminal antecedents and the organ of a person who has criminal antecedents. Human blood is passing through all of us," the court observed.

The Kerala High Court recently reiterated that criminal antecedents of an organ donor are not criteria to be considered by the authorisation committee for transplantation of human organs. "There is no organ in the human body like a criminal kidney or criminal liver or criminal heart," the Kerala High Court observed. This observation came from the Single Bench of Justice PV Kunhikrishnan while quashing an order issued by the Ernakulam District Level Authorisation Committee for Transplantation of Human Organs, rejecting a plea for organ transplantation citing the reason that the donor is involved in multiple criminal cases. The court was hearing a plea filed by Radhakrishna Pillai, a resident of Kollam and a kidney patient, who had challenged the order of the committee. The committee rejected his application for kidney transplantation stating that the donor is involved in multiple criminal offences. The court also directed the committee to reconsider the petitioner's plea within one week.