Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Monday sought replies of health and surrogacy authorities on a petition by a couple who challenged the refusal of an eligibility certificate for surrogacy as the wife is 54 years old.Justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish Chavan were hearing a petition by the Nashik-based couple against the July 14 order of the medical officer-cum-competent authority of Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) who refused to issue the eligibility and essentiality certificate under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act due to a provision that the intending mother shall not be more than 50 years of age.After multiple unsuccessful IVF and embryo transfer attempts, the couple had opted for surrogacy.In their application to NMC, they had declared that the husband’s sperms and donor eggs would be used for the surrogacy procedure. On Sept 1, HC appointed senior advocate Sharan Jagtiani as amicus curiae to assist it in the matter.On Monday, Jagtiani submitted a note citing precedents and vaguely set up what his submissions would be. However, to appreciate his submissions, the judges felt it necessary to have the response of ministry of health and family welfare, State public health department, along with State Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board, as well as the appropriate authority under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act.They permitted reply-affidavits to be filed by contesting respondents but restricted the time limit. “As we can see that petitioner no. 1 today is 54 years old when she is raising a challenge to the embargo imposed for grant of eligibility certificate…, time is running short for her,” they said.However, the judges made it clear that if no reply affidavit is filed, they will proceed with the matter. “The matter shall be argued on merits as it involves the interpretation of the provisions of Surrogacy (Regulation) Act as well as Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021,” they added. They posted the final hearing on Oct 13.
