Main purpose of the THOTA Act is to regulate the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and for the prevention of commercial dealings in human organs. DNA is present in most of the cells in our body, which is unique in each and every individual, and we leave a trail of it everywhere we go. This has become an advantage for forensic investigators who use DNA to draw conclusion in identification of victim and accused in crime scenes.

1. PRESENTATION ON THOTA ACT(1994)
& ROLE OF DNA PROFILING IN
FORENSIC SCIENCE
By- ANANYA SHARMA
B.SC(H)FORENSIC SCIENCE

2. The Transplantation Of Human Organs and Tissues Act
(THOTAACT)
• An act to provide for the regulation of removal, storage and transplantation of
human organs and tissues for therapeutic purposes and for the prevention of
commercial dealings in human organs and tissues and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.
• This act was introduced by Ministry of Health and family welfare and enacted
by parliament of India on 8th July 1994.

3. Authority for removal of [human organs or tissues or both]
• Section 3 of THOTAAct gives the authority for removal of (human organs or tissues or both) under certain
cases:-
1. Any donor can authorize the removal before his death of any human organs of his body for therapeutic
purposes.
2. Any donor in writing in presence of two or more witnesses authorized at anytime before his death the
removal of his organs after his death for therapeutic purposes.
3. If any mere relative of deceased person has no objection for removal of his organ for therapeutic purposes.
4. Authority is given to only registered medical practitioners.
5. Medical practitioners will satisfy himself before the removal by a personal examination of the body from
which any organ is to be removed that life is extinct in such body or where it appears in case of brainstem
death.
6. No removal shall be undertaken unless such death is certified.
7. Any of the parents of deceased person may give authority if brainstem death of
person less than 18 age has occurred.

4. Removal of [human organs or tissues or both] not to be
authorized in certain cases:-
• Under this Section 4.,no facilities shall be granted under sub-section(2) of section 3 and no authority shall
be given under sub-section(3) of that section for the removal of any [human organ or tissue or both] from
the body of a deceased person, if the person required to grant such facilities, or empowered to give such
authority, has reason to believe that an inquest may be required to be held in relation to such body in
pursuance of the provisions of any law for the time being in force.
• No authority for the removal of any [human organ or tissue or both] from the body of a deceased person
shall be given by a person to whom such body has been entrusted solely for the purpose of internment,
cremation or other disposal.

5. Authority for removal of [human organs or tissues or both] in
case of unclaimed body in hospital or prison
• Section 5 of THOTAAct gives the authority in case of dead body lying in a hospital or
prison and not claimed by any of the near relatives of the deceased person within 48 hours
from the time of death can be used for the therapeutic purposes.
• No authority shall be given if the person empowered to give such authority has reason to
believe that any relative of the deceased person is likely to claim the dead body even
though such near relative has not come forward to claim the body of the deceased person
within that time as instructed in subsection.

6. Authority for removal of [human organs or tissues or both] from
bodies sent for post-mortem examination for medico-legal or
pathological purposes
• Where the body of a person has been sent for post-mortem examination-
1. For medico-legal purposes by reason of the death of such person having been caused by
accident or any other unnatural cause ,or
2. For pathological purposes,
The person competent under this section 6 gives the authority for the removal of [human
organ or tissue or both] from such dead body.

7. Restrictions on removal and transplantation of [human
organs or tissues or both]
• No [human organ or tissue or both] can be removed from the body of the donor before
his death shall be transplanted into a recipient unless the donor is a near relative of the
recipient
• Each donor or the recipient being near relative is a foreign national prior approval of
authorization committee shall be required before removing or transplanting [human
organ or tissue or both].
• No [human organs or tissues or both] shall be removed from the body of a minor before
his death for the purpose of transplantation except in the manner as may be prescribed.
• No [human organs or tissues or both] shall be removed from the body of a mentally
challenged person before his death for the purpose of transplantation.

8. Regulation of hospitals conducting the removal storage
or transplantation of [human organs or tissues or both]
• Under this section 12.,no hospital unless registered under this Act, shall conduct, or associate with,
or help in removal storage or transplantation of any [human organ or tissue or both].
• No medical practitioner or any other person shall conduct or cause to be conducted or aid in
conducting by himself or through any other person storage or transplantation of [human organ or
tissue] registered under the act.
• Notwithstanding anything eyes or ears may be removed at any place from the dead body for the
therapeutic purposes ,by the registered medical practitioner.
• No registered medical practitioner shall undertake the removal or transplantation
of any [human organ or tissue or both] unless he has explained, in such manner
as may be prescribed, all possible effects, complications and hazards connected
with the removal and transplantation to the donor and the recipient respectively.

9. Appropriate authority
• The central government and the state government shall appoint, by notification, one
or more officers as appropriate authorities for each of the union territories for the
purposes of this Section 13.
• The appropriate authority shall perform the following functions, namely:-
1. To grant registration under section 15.
2. To suspend or cancel registration under section 16.
3. Proper inspection of hospitals, tissue banks periodically to maintain the integrity.

11. 13A. Advisory Committees to advise Appropriate Authority:-
The Central Government and the State Governments, as the case may be, by notification,
shall constitute an Advisory Committee for a period of two years to aid and advise the
Appropriate Authority to discharge its functions.
13B. Powers of Appropriate Authority:-
The Appropriate Authority shall for the purposes of this Act have all the powers of a civil court
trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) and, in particular, in respect
of the following matters, namely:--
(a) summoning of any person who is in possession of any information relating to violation of
the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;
(b) discovery and production of any document or material object;
(c) issuing search warrant for any place suspected to be indulging in unauthorized removal,
procurement or transplantation of [human organs or tissues or both].

12. Section 15. Certificate of registration.
(1) The Appropriate Authority shall, after holding an inquiry and after satisfying itself that
the applicant has complied with all the requirements of this Act and the rules made
thereunder,
(2) If, after the inquiry and after giving an opportunity to the applicant of being heard, the
Appropriate Authority is satisfied that the applicant has not complied with the
requirement of this Act and the rules made thereunder, it shall, for reasons to be
recorded in writing, reject the application for registration.
(3) Every certificate of registration shall be renewed in such manner and on payment of
such fees as may be prescribed.

13. Section 16. Suspension or cancellation of registration:-
(1) The Appropriate Authority may, on complaint, issue a notice to any [hospital or
Tissue Bank, as the case may be,] to show cause why its registration under this Act
should not be suspended or cancelled for the reasons mentioned in the notice.
(2) If, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the [hospital or Tissue
Bank, as the case may be,] the Appropriate Authority is satisfied that there has been a
breach of any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, it may, without
prejudice to any criminal action that it may take against such [hospital or Tissue Bank, as
the case,may be] suspend its registration for such period as it may think fit or cancel its
registration.

14. Section 18. Punishment for removal of human organ without authority:-
(1) Any person who renders his services to or at any hospital and who, for purposes of
transplantation, conducts, associates with, or helps in any manner in, the removal of any
human organ without authority, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which
may extend to [ten years and with fine which may extend to twenty lakh rupees].
(2) Where any person convicted under sub-section (1) is a registered medical practitioner,
his name shall be reported by the Appropriate Authority to the respective State Medical
Council for taking necessary action including the removal of his name from the register of
the Council for a period of [three years] for the first offence and permanently for the
subsequent offence.

15. FORMS

16. Types of Donors
Living donors
These may be living-related donors, spousal donors, or other than near-related donors.
If the relationship is not conclusively established after evaluating the above evidence, human leukocyte ant DNA
fingerprinting from a laboratory accredited with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration
Laboratories should be done. The forms required to be filled in live donation include Form 1 for donor consent,
Form 4 for donor fitness, Form 11 which is joint application form, and committee permission which is given as per
format given in Form 18.
Spousal donor
Spousal transplants are also considered as near-related transplants. Where the proposed transplant is between a
married couple, documents such as marriage certificate and marriage photograph are kept for records along with
the information on the number and age of children and a family photograph depicting the entire family and birth
certificate of children containing the particulars of parents. For a spousal donor, the forms required thus include
Form 2, Form 4 for donor fitness, and Form 11 which is joint application form filled by donor and recipient. The
committee grants permission in the format given in Form 6.

17. Swap donation
Swap donation means, if in a family (family number 1), you have a donor and recipient who
are near related but their blood group is incompatible, i.e., donor is A+ and recipient is B+,
and in another family (family number 2), the donor is B+ while the recipient is A+, the donor
of family number 1 can donate to recipient 2, and donor 2 can donate to recipient 1. This
can help to increase the donor pool. Swap transplant should be carried out simultaneously,
so there is no donor reneging. Donor reneging means that one of the donors backs out from
donation. Furthermore, the donor and recipient pair in a family should be near related.

19. Foreign Donors
In case of foreign donors donating to their relatives in India, the transplantation is permitted
only in near-related donors. Indian living donors wanting to donate to a foreigner other than
near relative shall not be considered. In case of foreigners coming for transplantation in
India, for example, donor and recipient being foreigners, the transplant is permitted in India
with permission from a senior embassy official of the country of origin who certifies the
relationship between the donor and the recipient, and in case, a country does not have an
embassy in India, and the certificate of relationship is issued by the government of that
country
Donor or recipient from other state
When the living donor is unrelated and if donor or recipient belongs to a state, other than the
state where the transplantation is to be undertaken, verification of residential status by
Tehsildar, or any other authorized officer for the purpose with a copy marked to the
appropriate authority of the state of domicile of donor or recipient is required as per Form 20

21.  In criminal matters, DNA Profiling has not only helped in cracking cold cases and linking
crimes with criminals but also aids in identification of victims in many cases. In many cases,
the victims are being murdered with a general perspective of hiding the identity of the
criminal and due to long lasting investigation procedures it becomes difficult to connect
recovered body remains with the victim.
 DNA is an indispensable tool because each person's DNA is different from every other
individual's, except for identical twins. Because of that difference, DNA collected from a crime
scene can either link a suspect to the evidence or eliminate a suspect, similar to the use of
fingerprints. It also can identify a victim through DNA from relatives, even when no body can
be found. And when evidence from one crime scene is compared with evidence from another,
those crime scenes can be linked to the same perpetrator locally, statewide, and across the
Nation.
 It also assists in further providing the guilt or innocence of the accused but tampering with
the DNA evidence may lead the case in wrong direction as a result of which courts are left
with no other option except to give the benefit of doubt to the accused. Although, traces
found at the crime scene are often populated with multiple evidence, intermixing of the
remains of victims, or severe fragmentation, which renders the characteristics of the victim.
 DNA Profiling is a standard and effective technique in resolving forensic cases and
providing pinpointed identification of victims, and also suspects in some instances
remains a veritable tool in situations of multiple evidence..

23. Contamination
 Because extremely small samples of DNA can be used as evidence, greater attention to contamination issues is necessary when identifying,
collecting, and preserving DNA evidence. DNA evidence can be contaminated when DNA from another source gets mixed with DNA relevant to the
case. This can happen when someone sneezes or coughs over the evidence or touches his/her mouth, nose, or other part of the face and then
touches the area that may contain the DNA to be tested. Because a new DNA technology called "PCR" replicates or copies DNA in the evidence
sample, the introduction of contaminants or other unintended DNA to an evidence sample can be problematic. With such minute samples of DNA
being copied, extra care must be taken to prevent contamination. If a sample of DNA is submitted for testing, the PCR process will copy whatever DNA
is present in the sample; it cannot distinguish between a suspect's DNA and DNA from another source.
 To avoid contamination of evidence that may contain DNA, always take the following precautions:
• Wear gloves. Change them often.
• Use disposable instruments or clean them thoroughly before and after handling each sample.
• Avoid touching the area where you believe DNA may exist.
• Avoid talking, sneezing, and coughing over evidence.
• Avoid touching your face, nose, and mouth when collecting and packaging evidence.
• Air-dry evidence thoroughly before packaging.
• Put evidence into new paper bags or envelopes, not into plastic bags.

24. Transportation and storage
When transporting and storing evidence that may contain DNA,
it is important to keep the evidence dry and at room
temperature. Once the evidence has been secured in paper
bags or envelopes, it should be sealed, labeled, and
transported in a way that ensures proper identification of where
it was found and proper chain of custody. Never place evidence
that may contain DNA in plastic bags because plastic bags will
retain damaging moisture. Direct sunlight and warmer
conditions also may be harmful to DNA, so avoid keeping
evidence in places that may get hot, such as a room or police
car without air conditioning. For long-term storage issues,
contact your local laboratory.

25. Elimination samples
o As with fingerprints, the effective use of DNA may require the collection and analysis of elimination
samples. It often is necessary to use elimination samples to determine whether the evidence comes from
the suspect or from someone else. An officer must think ahead to the time of trial and possible defenses
while still at the crime scene.
 For example, in the case of a residential burglary where the suspect may have drunk a glass of water at
the crime scene, an officer should identify appropriate people, such as household members, for future
elimination sample testing. These samples may be needed for comparison with the saliva found on the
glass to determine whether the saliva is valuable evidence.
In homicide cases, be sure to collect the victim's DNA from the medical examiner at the autopsy, even if the
body is badly decomposed. This may serve to identify an unknown victim or distinguish between the
victim's DNA and other DNA found at the crime scene.
When investigating rape cases, it may be necessary to collect and analyze the DNA of the victim's recent
consensual partners, if any, to eliminate them as potential contributors of DNA suspected to be from the
perpetrator. If this is necessary, it is important to approach the victim with extreme sensitivity and provide a
full explanation of why the request is being made. When possible, the help of a qualified victim advocate
should be enlisted for assistance.

26. How DNA Profiling is done-
DNA Profiling involves the general steps in the
following order:-
 Isolation of DNA by process called DNA Extraction,
 Quantification of the DNA in the sample,
 Amplification of STR loci,
• Separation of the PCR amplicons on a genetic
analyzer using bioinformatics to analyze the resulting
data and comparing the data from one specimen to
another in question.

27. Types of DNA Profiling
Autosomal DNA Profiling:-
 Autosomal DNA tests trace a person’s autosomal chromosomes, which contain the segments of DNA the
person shares with everyone to whom they’re related (maternally and paternally). Autosomal DNA tests
can confirm ethnicity percentages and close relationships with a high level of accuracy.
 mtDNA Profiling:-
 Mitochondrial DNA tests trace people’s matrilineal (mother-line) ancestry through their mitochondria,
which are passed from mothers to their children. Since everyone has mitochondria, people of all genders
can take mtDNA tests.
Y-DNA tests
 Because Y-chromosomes are passed from father to son virtually unchanged, males can trace their
patrilineal (male-line) ancestry by testing their Y-chromosome. Since women don’t have Y-chromosomes,
they can’t take Y-DNA tests (though their brother, father, paternal uncle, or paternal grandfather could).

30. • The introduction of DNA profiling has posed some serious challenges to the legal rights of an individual
such as Right to Privacy and Right against self-incrimination which is why its been declined as evidence
by the Courts sometimes. Also, the admissibility of the DNA evidence before the court always depends on
its accurate and proper collection, preservation and documentation which can satisfy the court that the
evidence which has been put in front is reliable.
• There is no specific legislation present in India that can provide certain guidelines to the investigating
agencies and the court, and the procedure to be adopted in the cases involving DNA as its evidence.
However, some provisions allow examination of person accused of rape by medical practitioner and the
medical examination of the rape victim respectively but the admissibility of these evidences has remained
doubtful as the opinion of the Supreme Court and various High Courts in various decisions remained
conflicting.

31. Cont.…
• At every phase of the whole procedure just described, mistakes and improper handling of the DNA
sample can produce false results which in some cases can lead to a life sentence or even death penalty
judgment.
• Therefore, the adequacy of laboratory procedures and the competence of the experts who testify should
remain open to inquiry. The collection of biological evidence remains of utmost importance in forensic
analysis. The manipulations or contamination of sample whether volunteer or negligently may vitiate the
expert report.