The Madras High Court has assisted a minor boy from Bangladesh by allowing renal transplantation in Chennai using a kidney donated by his mother. The court faulted the human organ transplant authorisation committee in Chennai for denying approval after questioning the relationship between the child’s mother and her husband.
Justice G.R. Swaminathan overturned the committee’s rejection order from April 2, 2026, describing it as flawed due to legal misdirection and lack of proper consideration. He instructed the committee to immediately approve A. Monika Rani Saha’s donation of one kidney to her son A. Atonu Saha and to proceed with surgery at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai.
The judge noted that motherhood holds a revered place in Indian culture, so claims supported by documents should generally be accepted without unfounded suspicion. In this instance, the mother even provided a voluntary DNA report.
To confirm the donor-recipient relationship, the parties presented passports, visas, Bangladeshi national identity cards, the child’s birth certificate, school records, a family certificate from the Kashinathpur Union Parishad, a relationship certificate from the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Chennai, and an e-apostille certificate.
The judge emphasised that India, as a signatory to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, must recognise apostilled documents from other member states. The Ministry of External Affairs clarified in 2020 that such documents require no additional attestation by Indian missions.
The committee should therefore have accepted the submitted documents proving the mother-son relationship rather than denying permission based on doubts about the woman’s marriage arising from translated oral inquiries.
The sole relevant issue was whether the recipient was the donor’s son; the donor’s marital status was irrelevant. An administrative decision influenced by irrelevant factors must be set aside, leading Justice Swaminathan to quash the order.
