CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday quashed the State government's order to seal the scan centre of Sudha Hospital in Tiruppur, which was involved in the sensational illegal oocyte sale case.
Justice Abdul Quddhose passed the orders on a writ petition filed by the hospital, on the grounds of the respondents' failure to issue a notice and cite reasons for the action under Section 5 of the TN Private Clinical Establishment (Regulation) Act, 1997 and Section 20(3) of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994.
The scan centre, which was allegedly used for illegal sale of oocytes from a minor, was sealed on July 15 by the TN Medical Services Directorate. The authorities had also directed the hospital to discharge in-patients within 15 days. Challenging the order, the hospital management filed the writ petition before the high court.
It challenged two orders dated July 14 on the grounds that the respondents suspended the hospital’s registration, thereby preventing the petitioner from running three hospitals, without a notice and without affording an opportunity of hearing. The petitioner also said these hospitals have existed for 35 years.
However, Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran vehemently opposed the petitioners’ contentions, saying the hospital violated the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994, and the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishment (Regulation) Act, 1997 by illegally selling oocytes of a minor whose age was misrepresented in a forged Aadhaar card.
Training programme for health officials launched
CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Thursday inaugurated a training programme for joint directors of health services on the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021, Surrogacy Act, 2021, and other Acts, in the wake of illegal sales of oocytes in Tamil Nadu.
The health minister told reporters that there are approximately 190 fertility centres in Tamil Nadu, for which general operating guidelines were issued