New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) Former Union law minister Ashwani Kumar on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court’s first-ever order allowing passive euthanasia of a 32-year-old man, saying it decisively affirms the individual’s right to end a state of vegetative existence.
In a statement, he said that in correlating compassion, justice and dignity, the judges have eloquently vindicated their oath of office as custodians of the constitutional conscience.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the withdrawal of artificial life support to Harish Rana, in a coma for more than 13 years, saying that the government should consider bringing comprehensive legislation on passive euthanasia.
In the top court’s first-ever order on the emotive issue, a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan directed AIIMS-Delhi to ensure that life support is withdrawn with a tailored plan so that dignity is maintained.
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.
Kumar said the Supreme Court judgement in Harish Rana’s case decisively affirms the individual’s right to end a state of vegetative existence, “inconsistent with the fundamental right to live and die with dignity”.
“The compelling judgment, authored by Justices Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan, affirms the judicial obligation to implement its earlier edicts on the subject at a time when the court is being critiqued for not enforcing its own decisions.
“The qualitative distinction of this landmark judgment is that it is grounded in compassion, the non-negotiable right to dignity, is anchored in constitutional scholarship and the demands of justice in extraordinary circumstances,” he said.
The judgment that lies “in the intersection of love, loss, medicine, and compassion” is a tribute to human sensitivity above and beyond the ordinary, the former law minister said.
“In prodding the government to fill the legal vacuum, the court has subserved the need for certainty in the law on a subject that concerns the core constitutional value.
“In correlating compassion, justice and dignity, the justices have eloquently vindicated their oath of office as custodians of the constitutional conscience,” Kumar said in his statement. PTI SKC SKC NSD NSD
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