Wife, Not Father, Has Right Over Deceased Man’s Preserved Sperm: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court has declined to consider the petition of a man demanding the right to receive the preserved sperm of his dead son, insisting that his wife is the only other person who, apart from the deceased, has any right to it.

If Married, Only Dead Man's Wife Has Right Over Preserved Sperm; Father Doesn't Have Any Right Over Son's Progeny: Calcutta High Court https://t.co/2HGABfAbjX

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What did the Court say?

Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya rejected the plea on arguing that the appellant has no 'fundamental right' to permission to extract his son's preserved sperm solely by dint of his father-son connection with the deceased.

In that situation, the petitioner's lawyer pleaded that his son's wife should be directed to give her 'no-objection' or, at least, respond to his appeal.

Details of the Case

The sperm stored at a hospital in Delhi belonged to the deceased and, because he was married his wife was the only other person other than the deceased to have any claim to it, the court said.

Justice Bhattacharyya observed, "The father-son relationship of the petitioner and the deceased does not mean any other right of the complainant to his son's progeny."

What did the Court Say?

The court further claimed that the case is outside the jurisdiction of the written court as far as the prayer for a guide for the wife to respond to the correspondence of the petitioner is concerned, as it does not entail any breach of constitutional or procedural law.

The complainant believed that his son was a thalassemia patient and had stored his sperm for potential use at the Delhi hospital.

What did the Complainant say?

The complainant, according to the prosecutor, contacted the hospital after the death of his son, demanding access to the frozen sperm, on the basis that he was the father of the deceased individual.

What did the Hospital Authorities say?

The hospital, for its part, told him that he would require the permission of the court and that evidence of marriage had to be given.

Following the hospital's intimation, the petitioner urged his deceased son's widow to give him a 'no-objection' for collecting the semen, the lawyer of the petitioner said, adding that she declined to accept the reception of the message.