The Andhra Pradesh Corneal Grafting Act, 1963.

THE ANDHRA PRADESH CORNEAL GRAFTING ACT, 1963
ACT No. 22 OF 1963
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTIONS
  1.  Short title, extent and commencement
  2.  Definitions
  3.  Removal of eyes of deceased person
  4.  Authority to remove eyes when not to be given
  5.  Authority to remove eyes not to be given by a person who is
      entrusted with body only for interment or cremation
 6.  Authority to remove eyes when body is lying in approved
institution.
6-A. Authority for removal of eyes in case of unclaimed bodies in
Hospitals or prisons
6-B. Authority for removal of eyes from bodies sent for postmortem
examination for medico legal or pathological purposes
6-C. Preservation of eyes removed from dead bodies
6-D.  Protection of action taken in good faith
7.  Authority to remove eyes to be sent to the eye specialist,
      Eye Bank or approved institution.
8.  Saving
9.Power to make rules
 THE ANDHRA PRADESH CORNEAL GRAFTING ACT, 1963
Act No. 22 of 1963
[28th December, 1963]
AN ACT TO MAKE PROVISION WITH RESPECT TO THE USE OF EYES OF
DECEASED PERSONS FOR THERAPEUTIC PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Andhra Pradesh in the
Fourteenth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement- (1) This Act may be called the
Andhra Pradesh Corneal Grafting Act, 1963.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Andhra Pradesh.
(3) It shall come into force on such date and in such area as the State
Government may, by notification in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette, appoint, and
they may appoint different dates for different areas.
 2. Definitions- In this Act, unless the context  otherwise requires,-
(a) "approved institution" means a hospital or a medical or teaching
institution for therapeutic purposes, approved by the State
Government for the purposes of this Act;
(b)1["near relative" means any of the following surviving relatives of
the deceased, namely, spouse, parent, son, daughter, brother or
sister.]
(c) "registered medical practitioner" means a person practising the
allopathic system of medicine or any other modern scientific
system of medicine, who is borne on the rolls of the register
maintained under the law relating to the registration of medical
practitioners for the time being in force in India and has undergone
such training as may be specified by the State Government in this
behalf and is working in an approved institution; and includes any
eye specialist notified by the State Government in the Andhra
Pradesh Gazette as a registered medical practitioner for the
purposes of this Act.
3. Removal of eyes of deceased person- (1) (a) If, at any time, any person has
expressed a request in writing that his eyes be used for therapeutic purposes
after his death, the person lawfully in possession of his body after his death
shall, unless such request had been subsequently withdrawn in writing,2[allow
the removal of the eyes] from the body for those purposes.
(b) Where any such request has been expressed orally in the
presence of two or more witnesses during his last illness, the
person lawfully in possession of the body of the deceased may,
unless he has reason to believe that the request was subsequently
withdrawn,3[allow the removal of the eyes] from the body for the
purposes aforesaid.
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (1), the person
lawfully in possession of the body of a deceased may4[allow the removal of the
eyes] from the body for the purposes aforesaid, unless that person has reason
to believe-
1. Substituted by the Act No.10 of 1986,  S.2.2. Substituted by the Act No.10 of 1986, S.3.3. Substituted by the Act No.10 of 1986, S.3.4. Substituted by the Act No.10 of 1986, S.3.
(a) that the deceased had expressed an objection to his eyes being
so dealt with after his death, and had not withdrawn such
objection; or
(b) that any near relative of the deceased objects to the deceased’s
eyes being so dealt with.
(3) An authority given under the provision of this Act in respect of any
deceased shall be sufficient warrant for the removal of the eyes from the body
of the deceased and their use for the purposes aforesaid; but no such removal
shall be effected except by a registered medical practitioner who shall satisfy
himself by a personal examination of the body that life is extinct.
4. Authority to remove eyes when not to be given- The authority for the
removal of eyes shall not be given under this Act if the person empowered to
give such authority has reason to believe that an inquest may be required to be
held on the body of the deceased in accordance with the provisions of any law
for the time being in force in that behalf.
5. Authority to remove eyes not to be given by a person who is entrusted
with body only for interment or cremation- No authority for the removal of
eyes shall be given under this Act in respect of the body of a deceased by a
person entrusted by another person with the body of the deceased for the
purposes only of its interment or cremation.
6. Authority to remove eyes when body is lying in approved institution- In
the case of a body of the deceased which is lying in an approved institution, the
person having the control or management of such institution, or an officer or
person designated by him in this behalf, may authorise in writing the removal
of the eyes from the body of the deceased;1[unless any near relative of the
deceased who is present in the institution at the time of the death or who is
available in the city, town or village, where the institution is situated, objects,
within a period of two hours immediately after the death, for such removal].
2[6-A. Authority for removal of eyes in case of unclaimed bodies in
Hospitals or prisons- (1) In the case of a dead body lying in a hospital or
prison and not claimed by any of the near relatives of the deceased person, the
authority for the removal of the eyes from the dead body which so remains
unclaimed may be given, subject to the provisions of sub-section(2), in the
prescribed form, by the person-in-charge, for the time being of the
management or control of the hospital or prison or by an employee of such
hospital or prison, authorised in this behalf by the person-in-charge of the
management or control thereof.
(2) The authority referred to in sub-section(1) shall not be given except
after the expiry of-
(i) half-an-hour from the time of death of the concerned person in
cases where no facility for cold storage of the dead body is available in the
hospital or prison; or
(ii) two hours from the time of the death of the concerned person,
in cases where facility for cold storage of the dead body is available in the
hospital or prison.
(3) No authority shall be given under sub-section(1), if the person
empowered to give such authority has reason to believe that any near relative
of the deceased is likely to claim the dead body eventhough such near relative
has not come forward to claim the body of the deceased within the time
specified in clause (i) or, as the case may be clause (ii) of sub-section (2).
Explanation:-For the purposes of this section “hospital” includes a
nursing home, medical or teaching institution for therapeutic purposes or
other like institution.
1. Substituted by the Act No.10 of 1986, S.4.2.  Sections 6-A, 6-B, 6-C and 6-D Inserted by the Act.No.10 of 1986, S.5.
6-B. Authority for removal of eyes from bodies sent for postmortem
examination for medico legal or pathological purposes –where the body of
a person has been sent for post-mortem examination.
(a) for a medico-legal purposes by reason of the death of such person
having been caused by accident or any other unnatural cause; or
(b) for pathological purposes, the person competent under this Act to give
authority for the removal of the eyes from such dead body may, if he has
reason to believe that the eyes will not be required for the purposes for which
such body has been sent for post-mortem examination, authorise the removal
for therapeutic purposes of the eyes of such deceased person provided that he
is satisfied that the deceased person had not expressed, before his death, any
objection to his eyes being used for therapeutic purposes after his death or,
where he had granted an authority for the use of his eyes for therapeutic
purposes after his death, such authority had not been revoked by him before
his death.
6-C. Preservation of eyes removed from dead bodies – After the removal of
eyes from the body of the deceased person, the registered medical practitioner
(Opthalmic) shall take such steps for the preservation of the eyes so removed
as may be prescribed.
6-D.  Protection of action taken in good faith - No suit, prosecution or other
legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith
done or intended to be done under this Act.]
7. Authority to remove eyes to be sent to the eye specialist, Eye Bank or
approved institution- An authority for the removal of eyes given under this
Act shall, immediately after the death of the deceased, be sent to any eye
specialist notified under clause (c) of section 2 or to the nearest Eye Bank or,
where there is no such Eye Bank, to the nearest approved institution. The
person having the control or management of the Eye Bank or the approved
institution, as the case may be, or an officer or the person designated by him in
this behalf or the said eye specialist shall, immediately on receipt of such
authority, arrange for the removal of the eyes from the body of the deceased for
use for the purposes of this Act.
8. Saving- (1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as rendering unlawful any
dealing with, or with any part of, the body of a deceased which would have
been lawful if this Act had not been passed.
(2) Any authority for the removal of eyes given in accordance with the
provisions of this Act shall not be deemed to be a contravention of the
provisions of section 297 of the Indian Penal Code.
1[9. Power to make rules –(1) The Government may, by notification, make
rules for carrying out all or any of the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-
(a) the form in which removal of eyes from un-claimed body may be
authorised as required by section 6-A;
(b) the preservation of removed eyes, as required by section 6-C;
(c) any other matter which is required to be or may be prescribed.
(3) ) Every rule made under this Act shall immediately after it is made, be
laid before the Legislative Assembly of the State if it is in Session and if it is not
in Session, in the Session immediately following, for a total period of fourteen
days which may be comprised in one session, or in two successive Sessions
1. Section 9 added by the Act No.10 of 1986, S.6
and if before the expiration of the Session in which it is so laid or the Session
immediately following, the Legislative Assembly agrees in making any
modification in the rule or in the annulment of the rule, the rule shall, from the
date on which the modification or annulment is notified, have effect only in
such modified form, or shall stand annulled, as the case may be, so however,
that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done under that rule.]

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