Flyer from Malaysia held in embryo-smuggling racket
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai 19.03.2019
: A man from Malaysia carrying a human embryo in a specialized nitrogen-packed canister was arrested on Friday, blowing the lid off a racket involving smuggling of frozen embryos into the country by an infertility clinic.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials, who made the arrest, said the embryo was to be delivered to the Indo Nippon IVF clinic on Turner Road, Bandra (West). They suspect the embryos were meant to be transplanted into the womb of Indian surrogates, as the process could be much cheaper in India. Rules on assisted reproduction are nebulous, but import of embryo is banned except for research and, that too, only after obtaining a noobjection from the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The arrested man, Partiban Durai, worked for a commission and, officials said, he has admitted to making 10 such trips to the Bandra clinic in the last 18 months. He would arrive in the morning with the package and leave by an evening flight.
Goral Gandhi, co-founder and scientific director of Indo Nippon, moved the Bombay high court on Monday after receiving summons from the DRI. Lawyer Sujay Kantawala, appearing for her, told the court that she is a “renowned embryologist. She has her own IVF clinic”. He denied allegations that the frozen embryos were for her clinic. DRI counsel Rebecca Gonsalves countered that they found text messages on Durai’s mobile phone indicating the clinic as the place of delivery. The HC bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre posted the matter to April 3 and in an interim relief, restrained the agencies from arresting her. Gandhi has been directed to be present at the DRI office at 10am on Friday.
India has been a favoured destination for foreigners seeking infertility treatment because of cheap treatment as well as inadequate regulation. The decade-old guidelines for the Assisted Reproductive Technology haven’t yet been made into a law. Piecemeal legislation exists, such as the ban on import of embryo except for research purposes.
DRI is in the process of finding out whether the clinic had already identified a surrogate for the new embryo or planned to sell it to some other clinics or doctors.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai 19.03.2019
: A man from Malaysia carrying a human embryo in a specialized nitrogen-packed canister was arrested on Friday, blowing the lid off a racket involving smuggling of frozen embryos into the country by an infertility clinic.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials, who made the arrest, said the embryo was to be delivered to the Indo Nippon IVF clinic on Turner Road, Bandra (West). They suspect the embryos were meant to be transplanted into the womb of Indian surrogates, as the process could be much cheaper in India. Rules on assisted reproduction are nebulous, but import of embryo is banned except for research and, that too, only after obtaining a noobjection from the Indian Council of Medical Research.
The arrested man, Partiban Durai, worked for a commission and, officials said, he has admitted to making 10 such trips to the Bandra clinic in the last 18 months. He would arrive in the morning with the package and leave by an evening flight.
Goral Gandhi, co-founder and scientific director of Indo Nippon, moved the Bombay high court on Monday after receiving summons from the DRI. Lawyer Sujay Kantawala, appearing for her, told the court that she is a “renowned embryologist. She has her own IVF clinic”. He denied allegations that the frozen embryos were for her clinic. DRI counsel Rebecca Gonsalves countered that they found text messages on Durai’s mobile phone indicating the clinic as the place of delivery. The HC bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre posted the matter to April 3 and in an interim relief, restrained the agencies from arresting her. Gandhi has been directed to be present at the DRI office at 10am on Friday.
India has been a favoured destination for foreigners seeking infertility treatment because of cheap treatment as well as inadequate regulation. The decade-old guidelines for the Assisted Reproductive Technology haven’t yet been made into a law. Piecemeal legislation exists, such as the ban on import of embryo except for research purposes.
DRI is in the process of finding out whether the clinic had already identified a surrogate for the new embryo or planned to sell it to some other clinics or doctors.
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