Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2018 - National Surrogacy Board

Chapter V

National Surrogacy Board

14. (1) The Central Government shall, by notification, constitute a Board to be known

as the National Surrogacy Board to exercise the powers and perform the functions conferred

on the Board under this Act.

(2) The Board shall consist of -

(a) the Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Chairperson, ex officio;

(b) the Secretary to the Government of India in-charge of the Department dealing with the surrogacy matter, Vice-Chairperson, ex officio;

(c) three women Members of Parliament, of whom two shall be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States, Members, ex officio;

(d) three Members of the Ministries of the Central Government in-charge of Women and Child Development, Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs not below the rank of Joint Secretary, Members, ex officio;

(e) the Director-General of Health Services of the Central Government, Member, ex officio;

(f) ten expert Members to be appointed by the Central Government in such manner as may be prescribed and two each from amongst -

(i) eminent medical geneticists or embryologists;

(ii) eminent gynaecologists and obstetricians or experts of stri-roga or prasuti-tantra;

(iii) eminent social scientists;

(iv) representatives of women welfare organisations; and

(v) representatives from civil society working on women's health and child issues, possessing of such qualifications and experience as may be prescribed;

(g) four Chairpersons of the State Boards to be nominated by the Central Government by rotation to represent the States and the Union territories, two in the alphabetical order and two in the reverse alphabetical order, Member, ex officio;

(h) an officer, not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the Central Government, in-charge of Surrogacy Division in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who shall be the Member-Secretary, ex officio.

15. (1) The term of office of a Member, other than an ex officio Member, shall be -

(a) in case of nomination under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 14, three years:

Provided that the term of such Member shall come to an end as soon as the Member becomes a Minister or Minister of State or Deputy Minister, or the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People, or the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States or ceases to be a Member of the House from which she was elected; and

(b) in case of appointment under clause (f) of sub-section (2) of section 14, one year:

Provided that the person to be appointed as Member under this clause shall be of such age as may be prescribed.

(2) Any vacancy occurring in the office whether by reason of his death, resignation or inability to discharge his functions owing to illness or other incapacity, shall be filled by the Central Government by making a fresh appointment within a period of one month from the date on which such vacancy occurs and the Member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the person in whose place he is so appointed.

(3) The Vice-Chairperson shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by the Chairperson from time to time.

16. (1) The Board shall meet at such places and times and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum at its meetings) as may be determined by the regulations:

Provided that the Board shall meet at least once in six months.

(2) The Chairperson shall preside at the meeting of the Board and if for any reason the Chairperson is unable to attend the meeting of the Board, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside at the meetings of the Board.

(3) All questions which come up before any meeting of the Board shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the Members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairperson shall have and exercise a second or casting vote.

(4) The Members, other than ex officio Members, shall receive only compensatory travelling expenses for attending the meeting of the Board.

17. No act or proceeding of the Board shall be invalid merely by reason of -

(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the Board; or

(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member of the Board; or

(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Board not affecting the merits of the case.

18. (1) A person shall be disqualified for being appointed and continued as a Member if, he -

(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or

(b) has been convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the Central Government, involves moral turpitude; or

(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a Member; or

(d) has acquired such financial or other interest, as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as a Member; or

(e) has so abused his position, as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest; or

(f) is a practicing member or an office bearer of any association representing surrogacy clinics, having financial or other interest likely to affect prejudicially, his function as a Member; or

(g) is an office bearer, heading or representing, any of the professional bodies having commercial interest in surrogacy or infertility.

(2) The Members referred to in clause (f) of section 14 shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the Central Government on the ground of his proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Central Government, has, on an inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in this behalf by the Central Government, come to the conclusion that the Member ought on any such ground to be removed.

(3) The Central Government may suspend any Member in respect of whom an inquiry under sub-section (2) is being initiated or pending until the Central Government has passed an order on receipt of the report of the inquiry.

19. (1) The Board may associate with itself, in such manner and for such purposes as may be determined by the regulations, any person whose assistance or advice it may desire in carrying out any of the provisions of this Act.

(2) A person associated with the Board under sub-section (1) shall have a right to take part in the discussions relevant to that purpose, but shall not have a right to vote at a meeting of the Board and shall not be a Member for any other purpose. 

20. All orders and decisions of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson and all other instruments issued by the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Member-Secretary of the Board.
 
21. Subject to the other terms and conditions of service as may be prescribed, any person ceasing to be a Member shall be eligible for reappointment as such Member: Provided that no Member, other than an ex officio Member, shall be appointed for more than two consecutive terms.

22. The Board shall discharge the following functions, namely:

(a) to advise the Central Government on policy matters relating to surrogacy;

(b) to review and monitor the implementation of the Act, rules and regulations made thereunder and recommend to the Central Government, changes therein;

(c) to lay down code of conduct to be observed by persons working at surrogacy clinics; to set the minimum standards of physical infrastructure, laboratory and diagnostic equipment and expert manpower to be employed by the surrogacy clinics;

(d) to oversee the performance of various bodies constituted under the Act and take appropriate steps to ensure their effective performance;

(e) to supervise the functioning of State Surrogacy Boards; and

(f) such other functions as may be prescribed.

23. Each State and Union territory having Legislature shall constitute a Board to be known as the State Surrogacy Board or the Union territory Surrogacy Board, as the case may be, which shall discharge the following functions, namely: -

(i) to review the activities of the appropriate authorities functioning in the State or Union territory and recommend appropriate action against them;

(ii) to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act, rules and regulations made thereunder and make suitable recommendations relating thereto, to the Board;

(iii) to send such consolidated reports as may be prescribed in respect of the various activities undertaken in the State under the Act to the Board and the Central Government; and

(iv) such other functions as may be prescribed.

24. The State Board shall consist of -

(a) the Minister in-charge of Health and Family Welfare in the State, Chairperson, ex officio;

(b) the Secretary in-charge of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Vice-Chairperson, ex officio;

(c) Secretaries or Commissioners in-charge of the Departments of Women and Child Development, Social Welfare, Law and Justice and Home Affairs or their nominees, Members, ex officio;

(d) the Director-General of Health and Family Welfare of the State Government, Member, ex officio;

(e) three women Members of the State Legislative Assembly or Union territory Legislative Council, Members, ex officio;

(f) ten expert Members to be appointed by the State Government in such manner as may be prescribed, two each from amongst -

(i) eminent medical geneticists or embryologists;

(ii) eminent gynaecologists and obstetricians or experts of stri-roga or prasuti-tantra;

(iii) eminent social scientists;

(iv) representatives of women welfare organisations; and

(v) representatives from civil society working on womens' health and

child issues, possessing of such qualifications and experiences as may be prescribed;

(g) an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the State Government in-charge of Family Welfare, who shall be the Member-Secretary, ex officio.

25. (1) The term of office of a Member, other than an ex officio Member, shall be -

(a) in case of nomination under clause (e) of section 24, three years: Provided that the term of such Member shall come to an end as soon as the Member becomes a Minister or Minister of State or Deputy Minister, or the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, or the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council or ceases to be a Member of the House from which she was elected; and

(b) in case of appointment under clause (f) of section 24, one year: Provided that the person to be appointed as Member under this clause shall be of such age, as may be prescribed.

(2) Any vacancy occurring in the office whether by reason of his death, resignation or inability to discharge his functions owing to illness or other incapacity, shall be filled within a period of one month from the date on which such vacancy occurs by the State Government by making a fresh appointment and the Member so appointed shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the person in whose place he is so appointed.

(3) The Vice-Chairperson shall perform such functions as may be assigned to him by the Chairperson from time to time.

26. (1) The State Board shall meet at such places and times and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum at its meetings) as may be determined by the regulations: Provided that the State Board shall meet at least once in four months.

(2) The Chairperson shall preside at the meeting of the Board and if for any reason the Chairman is unable to attend the meeting of the State Board, the Vice-Chairperson shall preside at the meetings of the State Board.

(3) All questions which come up before any meeting of the State Board shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Chairperson, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairperson shall have and exercise a second or casting vote.

(4) The Members, other than, ex officio Members, shall receive only compensatory travelling expenses for attending the meetings of the State Board.

27. No act or proceeding of the State Board shall be invalid merely by reason of -

(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of, the State Board; or

(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member of the State Board; or

(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the State Board not affecting the merits of the case.

28. (1) A person shall be disqualified for being appointed and continued as a Member

if, he -

(a) has been adjudged as an insolvent; or

(b) has been convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the State Government, involves moral turpitude; or

(c) has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a Member; or

(d) has acquired such financial or other interest, as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions as a Member; or

(e) has so abused his position, as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest; or

(f) is a practicing Member or an office bearer of any association representing surrogacy clinics, having financial or other interest likely to affect prejudicially, his function as a Member; or

(g) is an office bearer, heading or representing, any of the professional bodies having commercial interest in surrogacy or infertility.

(2) The Members referred to in clause (f) of section 24 shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the State Government on the ground of his proved misbehavior or incapacity after the State Government, has, on an inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in this behalf by the State Government, come to the conclusion that the Member ought on any such ground to be removed.

(3) The State Government may suspend any Member in respect of whom an inquiry under sub-section (2) is being initiated or pending until the State Government has passed an order on receipt of the report of the inquiry.

29. (1) The State Board may associate with itself, in such manner and for such purposes as may be determined by the regulations, any person whose assistance or advice it may desire in carrying out any of the provisions of this Act.

(2) A person associated with it by the State Board under sub-section (1) shall have a right to take part in the discussions relevant to that purpose, but shall not have a right to vote at a meeting of the State Board and shall not be a Member for any other purpose.

30. All orders and decisions of the State Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairperson and all other instruments issued by the State Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Member-Secretary of the State Board.

31. Subject to the other terms and conditions of service as may be prescribed, any person ceasing to be a Member shall be eligible for reappointment as such Member: Provided that no Member, other than an ex officio Member, shall be appointed for more than two consecutive terms.