Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994
3. Authority for removal of human organs
(1) Any donor may, in such manner and subject
to such conditions as may be prescribed, authorize the removal, before his
death, of any human organs of his body for therapeutic purposes.
(2) If any donor had, in writing and in the
presence of two or more witnesses (at least one of whom is a near relative of
such person), unequivocally authorized at any time before his death, the
removal of any human organ of his body, after his death, for therapeutic
purposes, the person lawfully in possession of the dead body of the donor
shall, unless he has any reason to believe that the donor had subsequently
revoked the authority aforesaid, grant to a registered medical practitioner all
reasonable facilities for the removal, for therapeutic purposes, of that human
organ from the dead body of the donor.
(3) Where no such authority as is referred to
in sub-section (2), was made by any person before his death but no objection was
also expressed by such person to any of his human organs being used after his
death for therapeutic purposes, the person lawfully in possession of the dead
body of such person may, unless he has reason to believe that any near relative
of the deceased person has objection to any of the deceased person's human
organs being used for therapeutic purposes, authorize the removal of any human
organ of the deceased person for its use for therapeutic purposes.
(4) The authority given under sub-section (1)
or sub-section (2) or, as the case may be, sub-section (3) shall be sufficient
warrant for the removal, for therapeutic purposes, of the human organ; but no
such removal shall be made by any person other than the registered medical
practitioner.
(5) Where any human organ is to be removed
from the body of a deceased person, the registered medical practitioner shall
satisfy himself, before such removal, by a personal examination of the body
from which any human organ is to be removed, that life is extinct in such body
or, where it appears to be a case of brain-stem death, that such death has been
certified under sub-section (6).
(6) Where any human organ is to be removed
from the body of a person in the event of his brain-stem death, no such removal
shall be undertaken unless such death is certified, in such form and in such
manner and on satisfaction of such conditions and requirements as may be
prescribed, by a Board of medical experts consisting of the following, namely:-
(i) the registered medical
practitioner in charge of the hospital in which brain-stem death has occurred;
(ii) an independent
registered medical practitioner, being a specialist, to be nominated by the
registered medical practitioner specified in clause (i), from the panel of
names approval by the Appropriate Authority;
(iii) a neurologist or
a neurosurgeon to be nominated by the registered medical practitioner specified
in clause (i), from the panel of names approved by the Appropriate Authority ;
and
(iv) the registered
medical practitioner treating the person whose brain-stem death has occurred .
(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in
sub-section (3), where brain-stem death of any person, less than eighteen years
of age, occurs and is certified under sub-section (6) , any of the parents of
the deceased person may give authority, in such form and in such manner as may
be prescribed, for the removal of any human organ from the body of the deceased
person.