Madras High Court Forms SIT to Investigate Kidney Sale Racket

Speedy Summary

• The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court appointed a Special Inquiry Team (SIT), led by Inspector-General of Police (South Zone) Prem Anand Sinha, to investigate allegations of an inter-State organ trafficking racket, notably focused on kidney transplants in Tamil Nadu.
• The SIT includes Superintendents of Police from Nilgiris, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, and Madurai districts.
• The court directed the DGP to assist the SIT and requested technical inputs from the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services.
• Media reports highlighted arrests in Telangana related to an inter-State organ trafficking network.
• The court emphasized that organ trafficking infringes on basic rights under Article 21 and raises public health concerns for donors and recipients.It criticized the State for hesitating to file FIRs despite serious allegations.
• Tamil Nadu officials cited legal constraints under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act but were told by judges that cognizable offences had been established.
• A status report indicated that licences for conducting kidney transplants at Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College & Hospital (Perambalur) and Cethar Hospital (Tiruchi) were revoked after fabricated certificates were discovered during investigations. Broker-arranged donations were reportedly motivated by financial incentives, with victims receiving less compensation than promised-₹5 lakh-₹10 lakh initially offered but later reduced significantly.
• Petitioner S.N Sathishwaran alleged increased illegalities in kidney transplant procedures across Tamil Nadu involving political links to ruling DMK members; he called for a CBI probe into wrongful practices.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The intervention by the Madras High Court via formation of a dedicated SIT signifies a critical step toward addressing organ-trafficking rackets-a grave issue affecting human rights and public health in India per Article 21 protections under constitutional law. While media-reported arrests in Telangana indicate potential inter-state dimensions, Tamil Nadu’s system faces deeper scrutiny regarding regulatory enforcement lapses across major medical institutions involved directly or illicitly facilitating nephrectomized surgeries violating ethics-industry-spanning morality-policy void perceived persists undermining wider rectitude governance trials judicially infused trustees operational transparency-intensified directorial renewed frameworks ensuring oversight restored alien-factors neutral integrity educational oversight trajectories anchored! Read More: [Insert relevant publication hyperlink content-text וויץ corrected