Item No.09 25.09.2026 Court. No. 236 Cp WPA 24163 of 2024 Babita Kumari & Anr. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Sandip Ghosh Mr. Partha Sarkar Ms. Jayashree Dari …..for the petitioners. Mr. Tapas Kr. Chatterjee, Ld. AGP Ms. Aparna Bose ……for the State. 1. The petitioner no. 1 is the wife of the petitioner no. 2. 2. By filing this writ petition, the petitioners have challenged the inaction on the part of the State Appropriate Authority within the meaning of Section 2(c) and Section 35(2) of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, (hereafter „the said Act of 2021‟), in not considering their representation dated August 30, 2024, for permission to opt for Assisted Reproductive Technology involving oocyte donation. 3. The petitioners are married childless couple and in order to avail the facility under the A.R.T.S. for giving birth to a baby, they approached the Indira IVF Hospital Pvt. Ltd./respondent no. 4. However, by a decision contained in a letter dated July 19, 2024, the respondent no. 4 rejected the prayer of the petitioners, inter alia, observing the following:- “The male partner has been crossed eligibility for ART treatment on 10-06-2024 (age more 2 than 55 years), so we are not able to continue their selected ART treatment as per ART law.” 4. Challenging such decision, the petitioners approached the State Appropriate Authority, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, on August 30, 2024. According to the petitioners, despite lapse of a considerable span of time, the said Authority chose not to consider such issue and the representation of the petitioners is still pending. 5. Under such circumstances, I direct the State Appropriate Authority/respondent no. 2 to decide the issue contained in the representation dated August 30, 2024, of the petitioners and dispose of the same after extending an opportunity of hearing to the petitioners or any of their representatives within a period of four weeks from the date of communication of this order. The said Authority is directed to consider the issue strictly in accordance with the provisions of the said Act of 2021. 6. Accordingly, the writ petition stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. 7. Urgent Xerox certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties upon compliance of all necessary formalities. (Arjun Ray Mukherjee, J.)