File affidavit on NAT-PCR rollout in Blood Banks: Odisha HC tells Govt
Orissa High Court
Cuttack: The Odisha High Court has directed the state government to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks, outlining the steps taken to implement Nucleic Acid Testing-Polymerase Chain Reaction (NAT-PCR) blood testing facilities across all blood banks in the state, as promised in 2023.
The directive came in response to a contempt petition filed by advocate Prabir Kumar Das on April 2, 2025. Das accused the state government of wilfully violating the court's order dated November 30, 2023, which required the establishment of Nucleic Acid Testing Polymerase Chain Reaction (NAT-PCR) systems in all 56 blood collection centres in Odisha by March 2025.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman on Thursday directed the state’s Health and Family Welfare department to file a detailed affidavit. The affidavit must outline the steps taken to comply with the earlier order. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on August 4.
The court order had followed Das’s earlier PIL that highlighted the risks associated with blood transfusions using traditional ELISA-based screening. He had argued that the NAT-PCR technology allows for early detection of infections such as HIV 1 and 2, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, thus ensuring safer transfusions, reports TNIE.
In its affidavit submitted in 2023, the Health and Family Welfare Department had admitted that only 47% of blood collections in the state were being tested using NAT-PCR, limited to 11 centres. However, the government gave a categorical assurance to the court that NAT-PCR facilities would be expanded to all 56 blood centres by March 2025 at an estimated cost of ₹200 crore.
Das informed the court that information obtained via RTI applications in March 2025 from both the Directorate of Blood Safety and the Health department confirmed that no additional centres had been equipped with NAT-PCR technology since the court’s order.
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According to TNIE, calling the inaction a “deliberate and wilful violation” of the court’s order, Das urged the bench to initiate proceedings under the Contempt of Courts Act against the commissioner-cum-secretary. The court, while not initiating contempt proceedings, has directed the official to respond with a status update in two weeks.
