NEW DELHI: In a landmark judgement reaffirming a patient’s right to die with dignity, the Supreme Court on March 11, for the first time ever, allowed for a 31-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state to undergo passive euthanasia in order to ensure that the best interest of the patient and to give him the right to die with dignity.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan reasoned that, as per various medical reports, further administration of CAN (Clinically Assisted Nutrition) will not be in the best interest of the patient.
The applicant, Harish Rana, has been in a vegetative state for the last thirteen years after an accidental fall from a building in 2013. Passive euthanasia is the practice of withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from patients in a persistent vegetative state, in order to allow them a natural death.
The Court has also directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to provide facilities to transfer the patient to its palliative care department to carry out a robust withdrawal of medical care in a manner that ensures the patient’s dignity is preserved to the highest degree.
“The famous literary Shakespeare quote ‘To be or not to be’ is now being used for judicially interpreting the ‘Right to Die'”, Justice Pardiwala noted at the beginning of the judgment.
The Court also expressed its appreciation to the patient’s parents for their resilient care for their son.
“You are not giving up in your son. You are allowing him to live with dignity”, Justice Pardiwala said while concluding the judgment.
The top court has applied the guidelines passed in its earlier ruling in the Common Cause case.
“However, the present case represents the first instance where the guidelines laid down in Common Cause v. Union of India are being applied in their full measure before this Court,” the bench said.
In November 2025, the top court had set up a medical board at the Noida district hospital to explore the idea of passive euthanasia for the person.
In October 2024, the Union Health ministry had released the draft of “Guidelines for Withdrawal of Life Support in Terminally ill Patients”. The guidelines issued state that it should be based on a “considered decision” taken by doctors on withdrawal of life support in terminally ill patients, based on certain conditions.
According to the draft guidelines, the withdrawal includes four conditions: a) any individual declared brainstem death as per the THOA Act. b) Medical prognostication and considered opinion that patient’s disease condition is advanced and not likely to benefit from aggressive therapeutic interventions c) Patient/surrogate documented informed refusal, following prognostic awareness, to continue life support d) Compliance with procedure prescribed by the Supreme Court. (ANI)
