India, Nov. 2 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday came to the rescue of a 3-year-old US citizen in critical need of a liver donor and directed the authorisation committee constituted under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act (THOTA), 1994, to urgently process his parents' request to receive a donation from his father's distant cousin.

A bench of justices AS Bopanna and PS Narasimha directed the child's family to move an application before the committee and directed the latter to process it with the necessary documents on the same day. The court posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday.

The top court's order came even as the rules permit that a foreign citizen can only receive an organ in India from a near relative - includ...