The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre on the logic in bringing a law to ban overseas citizens India (OCIs) from commissioning surrogate mothers in India to beget children for them.
A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana asked senior counsel K. Radhakrishnan “under what authority of law you are banning surrogacy for OCIs when even the draft Bill does not contemplate it”. Though the bench wanted to stay the Centre’s notification dated November 3, 2015, it did not do so when counsel requested the court not to pass such a drastic order. The counsel said it was the policy of the government that only “infertile Indian parents” would be allowed to commission surrogacy. The bench wanted to know from counsel, “What is the law or mechanism by which you are stopping it. What is the policy This is contrary to your Bill.”
The bench is hearing a PIL filed by an advocate Jayashree Wad alleging that India had become a major hub for commercial surrogacy in the world due to unregulated practice of the trade and sought directions to regulate commercial surrogacy. Counsel P.K. Mullick appearing on behalf of one of the OCI parents said the Centre had issued the notification banning import of human embryo in the name of curbing commercial surrogacy but in the same notification a clause was inserted in which OCI parents were also banned from commissioning surrogate children in India.
Referring to the Centre’s submission in the last hearing in October last that the Bill was at a consultative stage, the bench observed “More than three months have passed. What happened to the consultative process ” The counsel said the Bill is now pending before the Parliament standing committee.
On October 28, 2015 the Centre had informed the bench that it has brought curtains down on what is considered a $445 million annual business in India, by banning import of human embryo for commercial surrogacy and permit “only altruistic surrogacy to the needy infertile married India couples”. Subsequently a notification was issued on November 3 which said “No permission should be granted by the FRROs/ Foreigners registration officers to Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders to commission surrogacy in India. No exit permission should be granted by the FRROS/FROs to the child/children to be born through surrogacy to foreign nationals including OCI cardholders. The bench posted the matter for further hearing on April 13.
