In a first, Supreme Court approves passive euthanasia for 31-year-old man in coma since 2013

THE Supreme Court on 11 March allowed passive euthanasia for a 31-year-old man who has been in a comatose condition for more than 12 years by withdrawing his artificial life support.

Passive euthanasia is the intentional act of letting a patient die by withholding or withdrawing life support or the treatment necessary to keep him alive.

Harish Rana suffered head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of a building in 2013 and has been in a coma for over a decade.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to grant Rana admission to palliative care so that the medical treatment can be withdrawn. It must be ensured that it is withdrawn with a tailored plan that maintains dignity, the bench said.

"He experiences sleep–wake cycles but exhibits no meaningful interaction and has been dependent on others for all activities of self-care. Harish has been on CAN administered through a PEG tube, and his condition has shown no improvement," the court said, as per legal news website Bar and Bench.

The top court earlier expressed its desire to meet the parents of the 31-year-old man. It had perused a report containing Rana's medical history, prepared by a secondary medical board at AIIMS-Delhi, and remarked that it was a "sad" report.

The primary medical board, after examining the patient's condition, had stressed the negligible chance of his recovery.

The Court ruled that the medical board can exercise its discretion on withdrawal of life support in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the top court in its 2018 judgment in Common Cause v. Union of India.

First Such Judgement

This could be the first instance of the Court passing such a direction in an individual case, following its 2018 judgment, which laid down the law allowing passive euthanasia, Bar and Bench.

In 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench had recognised and given sanction for passive euthanasia and living will/advance directives.

In that judgment, the top court had ruled that the right to life under Article 21 includes the right to live with dignity, and the same includes the smoothening of the process of dying in case of a terminally ill patient or a person in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.

The top court had, on 11 December, noted that according to the report of the primary medical board, the man is in a "pathetic condition."

According to the guidelines issued by the apex court in 2023, a primary and a secondary medical board must be formed to obtain expert opinion on the withdrawal of artificial life support for a patient in a vegetative state.

What happened to Harish Rana?

Harish Rana suffered a grievous accident in August 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation while pursuing his B.Tech. degree in Chandigarh.

Rana sustained a severe traumatic brain injury and has since remained in a permanent vegetative state.

Rana's family had moved the Court seeking the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment rendered to Rana in the form of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH), administered through a PEG tube.

As Rana’s condition remained unchanged and irreversible, his father filed the present petition seeking the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for his son.