The Supreme Court has directed the Noida District Hospital to constitute a medical board to examine whether passive euthanasia can be considered in the case of 31-year-old Harish Rana, who has remained bedridden and dependent on life support for more than twelve years.
A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan issued the order on Wednesday while hearing a petition filed by Rana’s father. The judges instructed the hospital to submit a detailed report within two weeks assessing whether life-sustaining treatment can be lawfully withdrawn.
Who is Harish Rana?
Harish Rana, once a student at Panjab University, has been paralysed and entirely inactive since 2013, when he fell from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation and sustained severe head injuries. The accident left him 100 per cent disabled and wholly reliant on a ventilator. According to the petition, his condition has deteriorated further, leaving the family emotionally and financially exhausted.
What is Passive Euthanasia?
Passive euthanasia involves the lawful withdrawal or discontinuation of life-sustaining medical interventions, such as ventilators or feeding tubes, allowing a patient in an irreversible medical condition to die naturally. It is distinct from active euthanasia, which remains illegal in India.
An emotional plea
The father pleaded before the court that he could no longer watch his son endure such prolonged suffering. In response, the bench clarified that it seeks only a medical opinion on whether continued life support is medically justified. Once the report is received, the court will issue further directions. “This entire process must be completed within two weeks,” the bench ordered.
This is not the family’s first appeal for passive euthanasia. On 8 November 2024, the Supreme Court considered a report from the Union Health Ministry, which advised home-based care for Harish, supported by the Uttar Pradesh government, including regular visits from doctors and physiotherapists. The court had also noted that if home care proved unsuitable, the patient should be shifted to Noida District Hospital for continued medical supervision.
Previous cases of Passive Euthanasia in India
India’s legal journey on passive euthanasia has evolved through several landmark cases, beginning with the 2011 Aruna Shanbaug judgment, where the Supreme Court, while denying the plea to end Shanbaug’s life, for the first time permitted passive euthanasia under strict safeguards. This was followed by the 2018 Common Cause vs Union of India ruling, in which a Constitution Bench affirmed that the right to die with dignity is part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21, thereby fully legalising passive euthanasia and recognising living wills. Since then, various courts, including the Kerala and Bombay High Courts, have applied these guidelines to allow the withdrawal of life support in cases where patients were in irreversible medical conditions, making passive euthanasia a legally sanctioned medical decision in India subject to rigorous medical and procedural checks.
