Delhi govt submits guidelines on organ donation in HC

Delhi government today submitted guidelines on organ donations in the High Court detailing the procedure to be followed for donation of a dead body for medical education and research purposes.
The guidelines were submitted before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath which after taking it on record, posted the matter for October 7.
The guidelines framed by the health and family welfare department, says that first an application for donation has to be made by a close relative to the head of the department of Anatomy of the concerned medical institution.
All the government-run medical teaching institutions will have to maintain a register where any person can register for whole-body donation after death, it said.

"The near relative could be either of the parents, grandparents, spouse, son, daughter or grandchild who would have to give the application (for cadaver donation) to the medical institution," the guidelines said.
On April 30, last year, the court had asked the Centre, Delhi government and others to frame guidelines in this regard.

The court's direction had come after taking note of a letter stating that due to procedural delays, the body of a woman donor could not be utilised by the Organ Retrieval and Banking Organisation (ORBO) of the AIIMS.
It had treated the letter of V K Gupta, an official working with NTPC, as a PIL and said, "due to the catch-22 situation" the body of his sister late Sushila Gupta could not be utilised by ORBO.

Earlier, the court had issued notices to the Health Ministry, AIIMS, Delhi government and the city police saying that the committee of judges, which decided to treat the letter as a PIL, felt that regulations can be framed to ensure that such incidents do not recur.