Supreme Court Questions Plea Challenging Validity of Brain Death Certification

The Supreme Court considered a petition questioning the constitutional validity of brain death certification in India.

Petitioner Dr. S. Ganapathy argued that brain death is a medical construct created to facilitate organ transplants and infringes Article 21’s guarantee of the right to life.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi remarked that defining brain death falls within the legislative domain under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.

The Court noted that organ donation helps preserve life when recovery is impossible and said it would hear the matter alongside a similar pending case.

[Dr. S Ganapathy v. Union of India and ors]