SC expresses concern over rise in 'illegal organ transplants' in Punjab

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday voiced concern over what it described as a growing pattern of illegal human organ removal and transplantation cases in Punjab, while hearing an appeal by the Punjab government against the acquittal of a doctor accused in an unlawful kidney transplant case.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar was hearing the Punjab government’s challenge to a June 23, 2025 order of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench that acquitted Dr Fawad Mumtaz, an assistant professor of plastic surgery at Lahore General Hospital. He had been facing allegations linked to illegal kidney transplants.

During the proceedings, Justice Kakar said oversight by the relevant authority in Punjab was extremely weak. He observed that a patient seeking an organ transplant in Quetta could still obtain a kidney from Punjab, where, according to the judge, the price of the organ ranged from Rs1.8 million to Rs2 million. Referring to attitudes in Quetta, he remarked that people there considered their organs too valuable to sell, regardless of the amount offered.

Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, who was also on the bench, said the offence was particularly disturbing because, in his view, doctors, hospital staff and related state institutions were involved.

The court deferred further hearing until June 11, noting that the matter appeared to be both serious and complex as cases involving the removal of human organs had increased.

Punjab government’s case

Punjab Additional Prosecutor General Tariq Siddique, appearing for the state, urged the Supreme Court to overturn the high court’s acquittal. He argued that the order rested on presumptions, surmises and conjecture and was therefore erroneous and legally unsustainable.

According to the state’s petition before the apex court, Dr Mumtaz was a habitual offender allegedly connected to nine similar cases of illegal organ transplantation. The petition said he had also been dismissed from government service and argued that, rather than being set free, he should face strict action to protect other innocent people from the crime.

The petition further stated that nine first information reports had been registered against him at different police stations in Punjab over his alleged involvement in illegal kidney transplant procedures. It added that the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department removed him from service on July 29, 2022.

Case history

The state told the court that on March 27, 2023, Dr Mumtaz was performing a kidney transplant operation in Taxila when police raided the site and arrested him on the spot. An FIR was later registered at Taxila police station under Sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissue Act, 2010, as well as under the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018.

A magistrate in Taxila convicted the doctor on Dec 17, 2024, sentencing him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs1 million. The conviction and sentence were later upheld by an additional sessions judge in Taxila. However, the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench subsequently acquitted him, prompting the Punjab government to move the Supreme Court.