Debates needed over surrogacy: Justice BS Chauhan

Varanasi/Uttar Pradesh (Times of India) : The subject of surrogate motherhood raises many ethical and legal issues. Surrogacy needs to be strictly regulated, said Justice BS Chauhan, judge, Supreme Court. He was delivering a lecture on 'Law and morality with special reference to surrogacy' in the faculty of law, Banaras Hindu University, held as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya.

He pointed out the contradictions related to the status of women in modern India. Pointing out that India has no legislation on the subject of surrogate motherhood, he expressed concern over the fate of cases on the subject pending in the courts in the absence of a legislation. He threw light on the existing law in UK and many states of the US and found that the law on the subject is in general in state of flux and confusion. Justice Chauhan expressed concern over the abuse of the institution of surrogacy in the hands of rich and foreigners specially in absence of law on the subject.In his welcome address, head and dean BC Nirmal said that without religion, there can be no morality and without morality there can be no law. He pinpointed the complex nature of the relationship arising out of the institution of surrogacy, which needs legislative intervention.
Presiding over the session, RK Misra, former dean of the law and former vice-chancellor of DDU Gorakhpur University expressed the need of legislation on the subject. He also emphasized the need of having more debates over the issue.
MoU signed: An MoU between Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI, US and Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, was signed on Saturday by Virinder K Moudgil, president, Lawrence Technological University, US and Dhananjai Pandey, Director, IIT (BHU). The areas of mutual interest and collaborations were discussed on the occasion.