The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order to stop surrogacy services in Nepal. 

Responding to a case filed by advocate trio Prabin Bandak, Manish Kumar Shrestha and Rajeshowi Maharjan, a single bench of Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha directed the Ministry of Health and Population not to implement the Cabinet decision to open doors for foreign couples to seek surrogacy services.

Nahakul Subedi, spokesperson at the Supreme Court, said the order also asks all hospitals running the service to stop it immediately.

The writ was filed at the SC against commercial surrogacy services being run in Nepal on Sunday. The lawyers had moved the apex court saying that it is against the Interim Constitution and other laws to 'buy and sell' wombs of mothers. The litigants had also demanded that the points on surrogacy in the Nepal Health Policy be scrapped. The action plan of 12.4 in the health policy states that infertility issue will be addressed through surrogacy services.