HC asks TS its action plan for safety of 48 women

A report filed by govt. says two clinics made surrogacy a commercial activity

A Division Bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice T. Rajini on Thursday made it clear that the Telangana government should ensure the safety and well-being of the 48 women who have been confined to a fertility centre in the name of surrogacy before any further action was taken.

The Bench was dealing with a matter taken up on this issue. The Bench treated as petition the reports in newspapers, alleging that 48 women from poor families had been commissioned to bear children by way of surrogacy and they were held captive in pathetic conditions.

The Bench had called for a report from the State government which the Medical and Health Department filed. The report disclosed that the rules had been violated by the fertility clinic. The Bench asked the government to submit its plan of action.

Meanwhile, the couples for whom this surrogacy mothers were bearing the children had filed petitions to implead themselves in case. The court said it would hear their version too. It wanted to know what the government would do with the 48 women if the clinic was sealed.

The government, in its report, said the women were still at the clinic and the Department was monitoring the situation.

The court was told that these surrogate mothers were not willing to go out of the clinic. The government was ready to take care of them if any action was initiated against the hospital. The Bench directed the Director, Medical and Health, to visit the surrogate mothers on a regular basis to ensure that their health was in good condition. The case was adjourned by three weeks.

Several irregularities

The TS government on Thursday submitted a report to the Hyderabad High Court that Sai Kiran Hospital and Kiran infertility centre at Banjara Hills had made surrogacy a commercial activity by indulging in several irregularities.

In the report, it was said that though the said hospital took permission for ultrasound scan and fertility services, it had been running surrogacy centre in the area. Samit Sekhar, present in the centre, was an MBBS doctor and had failed to show the embrologist certificate. He was instrumental in running the entire surrogacy process. The centre had failed to maintain proper records and had refused to give permanent address of the all the 48 surrogate mothers, it noted.