Delhi HC allows kin of man who killed himself to retrieve his sperm

Delhi High Court allows preservation of deceased man's sperm for future use in assisted reproductive therapy.

The Delhi High Court has permitted retrieval and preservation of sperms of a man who died by suicide recently.

Justice Sachin Datta passed the order on a plea filed by the parents and sister of the deceased, who killed himself on January 22.

Also read: No prohibition under Indian law on posthumous reproduction, says Delhi HC

The petition sought a direction that the deceased’s semen be preserved through the method of Postmortem Sperm Retrieval (PMSR), a process allowing retrieval of viable sperm from a deceased individual for potential future use in Assisted Reproductive Therapy (ART).

The parents’ counsel argued that the semen sample constitutes property under Indian law. It drew the attention to an order of passed by the court in another case where the court observed that the term ‘property’ under Indian jurisprudence includes “both tangible and intangible assets encompassing the estate of the deceased”.

“At the request of learned counsel for the petitioner, the respondent number 2 hospital is directed to endeavour to arrange for the PMSR procedure to be performed through any other hospital which is equipped to do so, at the risk and cost of the petitioners. It is directed accordingly,” said the court on January 24.

“The retrieved sperm shall be preserved by the Hospital where the procedure is performed, in accordance with the standard procedures. The same shall be subject to further orders in the writ petition,” the court said.