Today, the Supreme Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a doctor from Fortis Hospital in Jaipur, who is implicated in carrying out illegal kidney transplants as part of an international racket.

A bench of Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol dismissed the Special Leave Petition, emphasizing that the matter is serious and requires thorough investigation as per the law.

The petitioner had previously been denied anticipatory bail by Justice Ganesh Ram Meena of the Rajasthan High Court (Jaipur bench) on August 30, under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Today, at the outset, Justice Ravikumar stated: "No question of anticipatory bail in a serious matter like this."

As the petitioner's counsel began his arguments, the court promptly clarified that it would refrain from commenting on the merits of the case. The Court advised that unless the counsel wished to risk an adverse order against his client, he should not proceed with the arguments.

Despite this, the counsel continued and argued that the proceedings were not maintainable under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994.

Justice Ravikumar said: "Allegation is kidneys of several persons were taken out...We are not ordering for your arrest. But we cannot simply shut our eyes when serious allegation is... persons-patients who were admitted in that hospital, some of them[their kidneys were taken out]. Understand one thing, when somebody is admitted in a hospital, going back, whether you will be able to know whether your kidney is still there is or not. Only in later point of time you will find it.''

The Counsel attempted to clarify that while kidneys are indeed removed, it is done with the consent of the patient. He further argued that the allegation pertains to the requirement under the 1994 Act, which mandates that the kidney donor and recipient must be related.