In Landmark Supreme Court Judgment, Ghaziabad Man Gets Right To Die

A 31-year-old man, who has been in a vegetative state for the past 13 years after a tragic accident, can now die as the Supreme Court today allowed the withdrawal of life support on his parents' request. The court has also urged the Centre to consider bringing a law on passive euthanasia, which is allowed in India only after the Supreme Court studies the opinions of two medical boards on the patient's condition.

Harish Rana, a student of Punjab University, fell off the fourth floor of a paying guest accommodation in 2013 and suffered serious injuries. He was put on life support. Since then, he has been confined to a bed with a tracheostomy tube for respiration and a gastrojejunostomy tube for feeding.

The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan said in its order, "'Gods ask no man if he accepts life, you must take it'. These are the words of (US minister) Henry (Ward Beecher) which hold significance when courts are asked if individuals can choose to die." Justice Pardiwala quoted the well-known phrase from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To be or not to be", and said it was being used to decide the "right to die".

The withdrawal of life support, the court said, must stand on two grounds: the intervention must qualify as medical treatment, and it must be in the best interests of the patient.

"Harish Rana was once a bright young 20-year-old boy pursuing education at Punjab University when he had a fall from the fourth floor of a building and sustained brain injuries. Harish was discharged, but a brain injury left him in a persistent vegetative state. He experiences a sleep-wake cycle and is dependent on others. The medical report shows no improvement in 13 years," the court said.

The court said that while a doctor's duty is to treat a patient, "that duty no longer sustains when the patient has no hope of recovery". The court said AIIMS shall grant admission to the patient in palliative care so that the medical treatment can be withdrawn. "It must be ensured that it is withdrawn with a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained," the order said.

The court noted that Rana's family, particularly his elderly parents, cared for him selflessly over the years. "His family never left his side... to love someone is to care for them even in the darkest times. Our decision today does not neatly fit in logical (lines), but love, life and loss," it said.

Passive euthanasia in exceptional circumstances was legalised in India in the Aruna Shanbaug vs Union of India judgment in 2011. Shanbaug, a nurse, remained in a vegetative state for over four decades after a sexual assault that left her paralysed and inflicted serious brain damage. The court had rejected a petition to remove life support after noting that medical evidence suggests she should live. The judgment, however, eased the norms for passive euthanasia, allowing it in exceptional cases.