Journalism of Courage
Karnataka may allow living donors to give organs to anonymous recipients
The state government informed the Karnataka High Court of its stand after being directed to submit its policy on altruistic organ donation.
The Karnataka High Court called for a system to help altruistic organ donors so that they even need not come to the court.
The Karnataka government informed the high court on Monday that it is considering framing a policy or issuing guidelines allowing a living person to make an altruistic organ donation to a deserving anonymous recipient.
The statement was made after the court last week called on the government to place its policy regarding altruistic organ donation on record.
The court was hearing a petition filed by a 52-year-old businessman from Davangere district who wishes to “altruistically donate one of his kidneys to a deserving anonymous recipient”. He sought a court direction for the authorisation committee of a private hospital in Kengeri to permit him to donate his kidney.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj orally told Additional Government Advocate Mohammed Jaffar Shah, “We have sensitised you about the issue, and you shall take your time to come out with a policy.”
During the previous hearing, the court said that private hospitals would not be permitted to facilitate organ donation in such cases and that the state government would be the appropriate authority to make a decision.
Earlier, the court noted that an appropriate policy would save altruistic donors the time spent seeking court orders and harvesting organs—time during which a deserving patient could receive a life-saving transplant.
The court directed the petitioner to appear before the director of the Institute of Nephrology at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru, on September 8, for a health examination for organ donation. It also directed the institute to submit a report.
First case of altruistic donation
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The high court decided its first case of altruistic organ donation on November 25, 2025, when it permitted a doctor attached to a Bengaluru hospital to donate one of her kidneys to a deserving person as an “altruistic donor”, without seeking any compensation.
The 58-year-old doctor approached the court after the chairperson of the hospital-based authorisation committee denied permission for the organ donation.
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