Passive euthanasia in India: The Indian Supreme Court directed a government hospital in Noida to set up a primary medical board to examine whether life-sustaining treatment can be withdrawn for a 31-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan asked the district hospital in Sector 39, Noida, to constitute the board and submit its report within two weeks on the condition of Harish Rana, who suffers from 100% disability with quadriplegia.
The direction came on an application filed by Rana’s father seeking passive euthanasia for his son, saying his health had deteriorated further despite years of care.
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Passive euthanasia refers to allowing a patient to die by withholding or withdrawing treatment or life support that is necessary to maintain life, as distinct from active euthanasia, which involves a deliberate act to cause death and remains illegal in India.
“We want the primary board to give us a report that life-sustaining treatment can be withheld,” the Bench said. “Let the primary board place its report at the earliest, and once it is before us, we shall proceed to pass further orders. Let this exercise be done within two weeks.”
This is the second time in two years that Rana’s parents have approached the apex court seeking permission to withdraw treatment.
Last year, on November 8, the Supreme Court had considered a report from the Union Health Ministry suggesting that Harish Rana could be managed at home with assistance from the Uttar Pradesh government and regular visits by doctors and a physiotherapist. The court had also said that if home care was not feasible, he could be shifted to the Noida district hospital for ongoing medical support.
Appearing for the father, advocate Rashmi Nandakumar told the court that all options suggested earlier had been tried with the support of the State authorities, but his condition continued to worsen.
She clarified that the family was not seeking active euthanasia but passive euthanasia in line with the Supreme Court’s 2018 guidelines, under which life-sustaining treatment may be withheld in specific circumstances to end suffering.
The Bench directed the Supreme Court registry to send a copy of its order to the Noida district hospital and to the office of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.
Rana was a student at Panjab University when he suffered severe head injuries in 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation. He has been completely bedridden and dependent on artificial support for basic functions for the past 12 years.
On August 20 last year, the Supreme Court had described the case as “a very hard one” as it sought the Centre’s response to his parents’ plea. At that time, the court had agreed with the Delhi High Court’s earlier view that a case for passive euthanasia was not made out because Rana was not on a ventilator or other mechanical life-support system and was being fed through a tube.
The court had, however, acknowledged that he had been in a vegetative state for over a decade and noted the severe financial and emotional strain on his ageing parents, who told the court they had even sold their house to continue his treatment.