Decide by May 4 teen girl's plea to donate part of liver to ailing father, Bombay HC tells Maha govt

The petitioner's lawyer Tapan Thatte told the court that since the petitioner is a minor, she would not be able to donate a part of her liver without taking approval from the appropriate authority of the state government set up under the Organ Transplantation Act.

Mumbai:The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to expeditiously decide an application filed by a 16-year-old girl seeking approval to transplant a part of her liver to her ailing father. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Madhav Jamdar was on Monday hearing a petition filed by the girl through her mother seeking a direction to the state government to permit the minor girl to donate part of her liver to her ailing father.

According to the petition, the girl's father is in need of a liver transplant as he has been diagnosed with 'liver cirrhosis decompensated'. The petition said all close relatives were evaluated as potential donors but except for the petitioner (daughter), none were found medically suitable. The petitioner's lawyer Tapan Thatte told the court that since the petitioner is a minor, she would not be able to donate a part of her liver without taking approval from the appropriate authority of the state government set up under the Organ Transplantation Act.

Thatte told the court the petitioner had filed an application on April 25 to the concerned authority seeking approval for transplanting part of her liver to her ailing father but there has been no response as yet. Government Pleader P P Kakade, appearing for the government, submitted to the court that the concerned authority of the state government would look into the application filed by the petitioner.

The bench directed the government to decide the application by May 4, the next date of hearing, as the condition of the petitioner's father was critical.

PTI