Supreme Court of India. File Image | Photo credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Friday (March 13, 2026) refused to order the government to make mandatory “costly” nucleic acid tests (NATs) to identify diseases before blood transfusions, saying it had no specialized knowledge of either the medical science or the costs involved.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant pointed out that states have their financial constraints and judges cannot “pretend to understand medical science” to issue court orders making NAT mandatory.
The bench gave liberty to the petitioner — Sarvesham Mangalam Foundation, represented by advocate A. Velan — to submit a comprehensive statement to the state health ministers “who may, with the help and advice of experts in the field, take appropriate decisions” in the matter.
“No ulterior motives”
During the hearing, the court repeatedly questioned the intentions of the non-governmental organization when submitting the proposal. At one point, the Bench asked Mr. Velan, “You think PILs are not funded from abroad, do you think so?”
Mr. Velan replied that the petitioner had no ulterior motives and was only trying to highlight the case of thalassemia patients who required frequent blood transfusions and were susceptible to transfusion of infected blood. The petition described such health mishaps as “preventable tragedies”.
Invoke the right to life
NAT is a highly sensitive molecular technique that detects the genetic material of viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the blood. In a previous hearing, the court asked the petitioner to provide more details about the cost-effectiveness of NAT compared to the more commonly used Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The chief justice asked whether all states could afford NAT in government blood banks and hospitals.
The petitioner argued that the right to safe blood transfusion is a fundamental part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The case assumed significance in the context of at least six children being reported HIV positive in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna allegedly due to a contaminated blood transfusion at a district hospital during thalassemia treatment in December 2025.
Published – 13 March 2026 21:56 IST
