India’s Supreme Court allows first-ever passive euthanasia Court news

Withdrawal of artificial life support given to the family of a 32-year-old man who had been in a vegetative state for more than 12 years.

India’s Supreme Court has allowed the country’s first passive euthanasia – the withdrawal of artificial life support – for a 32-year-old man who had been in a vegetative state for more than 12 years.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan on Wednesday allowed withdrawal of life support from Harish Rana, a resident of Uttar Pradesh who fell from a building and hit his head severely in 2013.

“The patient’s next of kin and medical boards have reached the view that CAN (medically managed nutrition) administration should be discontinued,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted the Supreme Court bench as saying.

Hearing a petition filed by Rana’s father, the court sought permission to withdraw life-saving treatment for his son. The family said that Rana was being kept alive artificially.

The court in its judgment said that Rana did not exhibit “any meaningful interaction” and was dependent on others for “all activities of self-care”.

“His condition has not shown any improvement,” the court was quoted as saying by legal news website, Bar and Bench.

India recognized passive euthanasia in 2018, permitting withdrawal of life support under strict conditions to allow death to occur naturally. But it marks the first time a court has approved its use for an individual.

Doctors have already concluded that Rana has no chance of recovery.

But because he did not have a living will — a legally binding document that outlines preferences for medical care in the event of a terminal condition — he could not consent to passive euthanasia.

Therefore, his parents applied to the court for permission to remove him from life support.

Active euthanasia, in which substances directly causing death are administered, remains illegal in India.

But the debate over letting someone die in India revolves around the 2011 case of Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse who spent 42 years in a vegetative state after being brutally sexually assaulted.

The Supreme Court rejected Shanbaug’s family’s plea to end his life and he died of pneumonia in 2015 at the age of 66.

But the court gave a landmark opinion recognizing passive euthanasia under strict safeguards and with judicial approval.

The move relied on earlier rulings recognizing the constitutional right to die with dignity and served as a prelude to the 2018 expanded ruling on passive euthanasia.

Euthanasia remains a deeply divided global issue, with supporters arguing that terminally ill patients should have the autonomy to choose a compassionate end to excruciating suffering, while opponents stress the sanctity of life.