‘Why should we pretend to know medical science?’: SC refuses plea for mandatory NAT testing in blood banks

New Delhi: Why should we pretend that we know medical science, the Supreme Court on Friday said while refusing to entertain a plea seeking mandatory Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing (NAT) in all blood banks to ensure supply of infection-free blood to recipients.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked petitioner 'Sarvesham Mangalam Foundation' to submit a comprehensive representation to the secretary of health departments of States and Union Territories on the issue.

The bench said the secretary may, with the aid and advice of domain experts, take appropriate decision on the issue.

"Do you think PILs are not funded from abroad. Do you think so?" the CJI told the petitioner's counsel during the hearing.

The bench said the petitioner should go and make representation before the authorities.

"We are definitely not experts on the subject... why should we pretend that we know medical science," the CJI said.

The top court observed it was for the domain experts to decide what testing should be done in blood banks.

The bench said in the absence of any specialised knowledge about the subject, it was satisfied that no directions as desired by the petitioner could be passed by the court.

It said the nature of relief sought in the petition entails financial implications and every state has its own financial limitations.

On February 25, the top court sought more details such as costs and availability of the facility to conduct NAT in government hospitals across India to detect Transfusion Transmissible Infections like HIV and hepatitis.

The bench had asked lawyer A Velan, appearing for the PIL petitioner, to provide details as to how much cost will be incurred in conducting NAT tests and whether the facility was available in government hospitals so that poor can also avail it.

The foundation made the union ministry of Health and Family Welfare and all the states and UTs (union territories) as parties to the plea.

The PIL sought an order to the Centre and the states to declare that the "Right to Safe Blood" is an intrinsic facet of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

It also sought directions to "implement mandatory NAT in all blood banks across the territory of India for the detection of Transfusion Transmissible Infections (TTIs), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis C Virus (HCV), hepatitis B Virus (HBV), malaria, and syphilis, in the blood collected from all donors, to ensure the supply of safe and infection-free blood to all recipients."

The Delhi-based NGO highlighted a "systemic and ongoing failure" of the state to protect vulnerable patients, particularly those with Thalassemia, from life-threatening TTIs such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder requiring patients to undergo blood transfusions every 15 to 20 days for survival.

However, the petition said that for thousands in India, these transfusions have become a "gamble with death." "Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder which is caused by the body's inability to produce enough haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and carbon dioxide to the lungs. As India is the Thalassemia capital of the world, there is a need to strengthen blood safety practices across the country… particularly the need for a standardised test to screen blood donations," it said.

The PIL cited a string of recent "preventable tragedies" across the country and said in Madhya Pradesh, in 2025, at least six Thalassemic children tested HIV-positive after transfusions at Satna District Hospital.

In Jharkhand, five children were infected with HIV following transfusions at Sadar Hospital, Chaibasa in 2025, it said, adding that in Uttar Pradesh 14 children contracted hepatitis and HIV at a medical college in 2023.