PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday referred a writ petition filed by a police constable seeking permission to receive a kidney transplant from a non-relative donor due to the unavailability of a close family donor, to the chairman of the Transplant Evaluation Committee at the Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayatabad.
The court directed the chairman to convene a meeting within 15 days to assess the petitioner’s medical condition and make a decision.
The case was heard by a division bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali. Danial Asad Chamkani advocate represented the petitioner Rab Nawaz.
The order written by Justice Faheem Wali, the court stated that the chairman of the Transplant Evaluation Committee must convene a meeting within 15 days, since the petitioner’s kidneys have failed and he is critically ill. The only possible solution is a kidney transplant. However, none of the petitioner’s close blood relatives have a matching blood group, making it impossible for them to donate.
Consequently, the petitioner is compelled to arrange a donor from outside his family to save his life.
The court noted that under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority Act 2014, organ donation from anyone other than a close blood relative is restricted. According to Section 13 of the Act, permission from the Transplant Evaluation Committee is required for such a donation.
Since the petitioner has approached the court, the bench directed the chairman of the Transplant Evaluation Committee at the Institute of Kidney Diseases, Hayatabad, to hold a meeting within 15 days and decide the petitioner’s case on a priority basis.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that Rab Nawaz, a police constable, had been suffering from severe kidney disease since 2009. Despite seeking treatment across the country, his condition has not improved, and doctors have now declared a transplant as the last option to save his life.
Unfortunately, none of his brothers or other close relatives have a compatible kidney or blood group. Counsel further contended that under Section 3(2) of the Act, if no family donor is available, any person may voluntarily donate an organ.