New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre and NACO, on a plea against the constitutional validity of Blood Donor rules of 2017. The rules permanently restrain transgender persons, female sex workers and LGBTQI persons from donating blood.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. The counsel in the matter urged the bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, to issue notice and tag the petition with another similar pending petition. The plea has been filed by Sharif D Rangnekar, claiming himself to be a gay person. The plea contended a blanket prohibition is a violation of the right to equality, dignity and life protected under Articles 14, 15, 17 and 21 of the Constitution. After hearing brief submissions from the counsel, the bench issued notice to the Centre, the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) and National Aids Control Organisation (NACO).
The plea said that these guidelines violate the right to live with dignity, and do not afford full membership of living in a society to LGBTQ+ community and thus, reduces them to second-class citizenship.
The plea said "viewed from a scientific perspective, such a blanket restriction on blood donation is based on an assumption that a particular group of persons may be suffering from sexually transmitted diseases”.
The plea said in the 21st century “a blanket prohibition emanating from a highly discriminatory view of gay persons, does not stand to reason”.
The petitioner urged the apex court to issue directions to the concerned authorities to carry out sensitisation programmes, while dealing with gay/ LGBTQI persons, who donated blood. The plea was filed through advocates Rohin Bhatt and Ibad Mushtaq.
