Delhi HC seeks govt’s stand on plea against surrogacy law provisions

The Delhi high court on Friday sought the Centre’s response on a plea challenging provisions of surrogacy laws on the ground that they exclude single men and married women from opting for surrogacy as a reproductive choice.

A bench of acting chief justice Vipin Sanghi and justice Sachin Datta was hearing a plea by Karan Balraj Mehta, a single man, and Dr Pankhuri Chandra, a married woman and mother of a child, when it said the matter required “consideration” and granted the Centre six weeks to submit its response.

In their petition filed through advocate Aditya Samaddar, the duo claimed that commercial surrogacy is the only option available to them but the “ban on commercial surrogacy robs them of the option”.

Commercial surrogacy refers to an arrangement in which the surrogate mother is compensated for her services beyond reimbursement of medical expenses.

Challenging the constitutionality of various provisions of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 and Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, the petitioners claimed the laws are discriminatory as they are unable to avail the benefit of surrogacy as a reproductive choice, and in violation of Articles 14 (equality) and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution.

“The personal decision of a single person about the birth of a baby through surrogacy, i.e., the right of reproductive autonomy is a facet of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Thus, the right of privacy of every citizen or person to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters fundamentally affecting a decision to bear or beget a child through surrogacy cannot be taken away,” the petitioners said.

The plea also contended that the best eligibility criteria to maximise the chances of finding the best surrogate mother would be any healthy woman above the age of majority and “the needless conditions of being genetically related, of a particular age, married and already having at least one child only constrict the universe of available candidates who may otherwise become healthy surrogate mothers”.

The bench listed the matter for further hearing on November 29.