High Court asks Karnataka to frame policy on altruistic organ donation

The Karnataka High Court has requested the state government to officially document its stance on 'altruistic organ donation' by living individuals to anonymous recipients in need. This directive was issued during a hearing of a case involving a 52-year-old businessman from Davangere district, who has expressed a desire to donate one of his kidneys. Ten years prior, the businessman had abandoned his organ donation plan due to opposition from his mother and brother.

Earlier this year, another instance of 'altruistic organ donation' was brought before the court. Justice Suraj Govindaraj expressed surprise at the recurrence of such cases and suggested that a system should be established to facilitate these donations, provided they do not affect the donor's family. The petitioner, a single woman who has been living separately from her brother for 16 years, has received his consent to donate one of his kidneys.

The petitioner has petitioned the court for a direction to the hospital-based authorization committee of a private hospital in Kengeri to permit the kidney donation. The court clarified that private hospitals would not be allowed to facilitate such organ donations. Instead, the state government should assume the authority to make such decisions.

The court emphasized that if a suitable match is found, the donated kidney could be allocated to a patient on the state government's waiting list, based on the seniority of recipients. The petitioner would be required to appear before the State Organ Transplant Committee, established under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994, to undergo the necessary evaluations. The organ would then be distributed based on the seniority of recipients in the waiting list.

The court also noted that a clear policy would prevent altruistic individuals from approaching the court, thereby saving them from the time delays associated with obtaining orders and harvesting organs. If the organ is not received in time, a deserving patient might have already been provided with the life-saving organ. The first case of altruistic organ donation was decided in November 2025, when a 58-year-old doctor from Bengaluru was permitted to donate one of her kidneys to a deserving individual without compensation.

Since then, the Karnataka government has established Jeevasarthakathe for a cadaver transplantation program and to oversee the implementation of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act of 1994. From 2007 to July 2026, a total of 3,859 organs have been donated in the state, with 2,145 kidneys, 1,175 livers, 361 hearts, 164 lungs, and 2 hands being transplanted.