MADURAI: Expressing its displeasure over the failure of the state government to register an FIR in connection with the recent kidney trafficking incidents in Tamil Nadu, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday appointed a special investigation team (SIT), headed by Inspector General of Police (South Zone) Prem Anand Sinha, to probe the racket and directed the team to file a progress report before the HC in a month.
A bench comprising justices S M Subramaniam and G Arul Murugan criticised the state for not having shown enough sensitivity towards the issue, although it is related to the life of citizens.
Even after the court repeatedly pointed out the gravity of the issue and the need to file an FIR, the state continued to hesitate citing statutory bar, it said.
Although Additional Advocate General (AAG) M Ajmal Khan and State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah, in response to the court’s oral instructions to suggest names for forming an SIT, submitted a list of police officers, the judges were disappointed.
HC asks DGP to assist SIT, says it will monitor kidney trafficking probe
Stating that the list failed to inspire the court’s confidence, the judges secured another list from the government through the Additional Registrar General of the court, based on which the judges appointed an SIT headed by IGP Sinha and comprising four SPs — N S Nisha of Nilgiris, N Silambarasan of Tirunelveli, Dr K Karthikeyan of Coimbatore and B K Arvind of Madurai — to probe into human organ trafficking, especially kidney trafficking, in TN.
The bench also directed the Director General of Police and the Director of Medical and Rural Health Services to render assistance to the team, including with workforce and technical inputs. The team was directed to register an FIR based on the complaint lodged by the Namakkal Chief Medical Officer and the report submitted by the state-appointed committee. The HC bench would monitor the probe, the judges added, and adjourned the case to September 24. The directions were issued on an advocate S N Sathishwaran’s PIL, seeking CBI probe.
Earlier, the DMS had submitted a status report containing the recommendations of the state-appointed committee and the action taken. Citing the report, the AAG told the bench that corrective measures were being taken and an FIR cannot be registered owing to Section 22 of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, which said no court can take cognisance of an offence made under the Act except on a complaint made by an appropriate authority authorised by the government. However, the judges said that even as per the state-appointed committee’s report, the issue involved fabrication of documents and exploitation of people from economically weaker sections by some private hospitals, doctors and brokers, which would constitute offences under the Act as well as under the BNS 2023.
The Madras HC’s principal seat in Chennai directed the state’s health and family welfare department authorities to produce a copy of the GO issued to cancel the permission granted to the kidney transplantation unit of the Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh issued the order while hearing a petition filed by the institution, which sought the quashing of an August 8, 2025 health department press release, following AAG J Ravindran’s submission that a GO was issued in this regard. The release said registration for the renal transplantation unit at the hospital had been permanently cancelled after illegal kidney transplantation complaints. The judge adjourned the hearing to August 28, 2025.
(With inputs from R Sivakumar)