Delhi HC moved over delay in issuance of NOC to export embryo to surrogate in California

New Delhi: A married man has approached the Delhi High Court complaining of facing "unreasonable delay" in getting permission from authorities to export his embryo to a surrogate mother in the US.

The man, in his plea filed recently through advocates Parminder Singh and Vishnu Tallapragada, sought directions from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the issuance of a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the matter. 

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As per the petitioner, he applied for the NOC prior to the implementation of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act 2021. Section 229 of the ART act prohibits the transfer or use of gametes, zygotes, and embryos, directly or indirectly to any party within or outside India except in the case of transfer of own gametes and embryos for personal use with the permission of the National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board (NARTSB).

The petitioner also claimed that he followed up his case with the NARTSB, the ICMR, and the Centre after the change in the law.

The plea further said, the ICMR did not respond to him and caused unreasonable delay and in the due time, the ART Act was also enacted.

In the meantime, the original service agreement between the petitioner and the surrogate mother in California had lapsed, he said.

Seeking relief in the matter, the petitioner said the ICMR contravened his fundamental right to life as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The Plea further claims that the petitioner has been able to re-negotiate the service agreement with the surrogate mother in California and any further delay in the judgment would cause great prejudice. Thus, a direction is sought to be issued to the respondent-authority to issue the requisite NOC to the petitioner, reports Livelaw.

The plea will be further heard on July 20.

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