Initially, Justice Rastogi was critical of the functioning of the National Board and even asked the Union Government if the Board meets regularly. It was informed that the National Board has been newly constituted under the recent Act. The bench was told that notices have been issued for the appointment of the members of the National Board. However, Justice Rastogi said that “larger the number of Board members, more is the problem to consolidate all this.”
The Union Government argued that the court should not hear the challenge to the legislation because the National Board has been given a ‘peculiar’ advisory power. The National Board can advise the Union Government on the matter of policy. But the bench asked the Union Government to make a representation to the National Board, constituted last month, to consider the prayers of the petitioners and thereafter file a reply expeditiously.
The petitioner’s side also referred to a judgment of the Kerala High Court. In a significant judgment, a single judge bench of Justice V.G. Arun, in a batch of petitions challenging the upper eligibility limit of 50 years for women and 55 years for men prescribed under the ART Act, observed that the fundamental right
Violation of fundamental rights
There are challenges on the basis of violation of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The Surrogacy Act criminalises the act of choosing surrogacy for everyone except married couples and a small section of women. The ART Act and the Surrogacy Act exclude and discriminate, without any rationality, against same-sex couples and other members of the LGBTQI community, single women (those who are neither widowed nor divorced, and those who are widowed and/or divorced and less than the age of 35 or more than 45 years).
Also excluded are single men, couples suffering from secondary infertility, and couples in which either or both partner does not fall within the prescribed age brackets.
Breach of privacy
Surrogacy is a private affair and the precondition of a genetically related surrogate mother would be in violation of the basic right to privacy and reproductive autonomy of infertile couples. It violates Article 21 of the Constitution.
Breach of privacy
Surrogacy is a private affair and the precondition of a genetically related surrogate mother would be in violation of the basic right to privacy and reproductive autonomy of infertile couples. It violates Article 21 of the Constitution.
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(With input from news agency language)
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