New Delhi, Mar 11 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday urged the government to consider enacting a comprehensive legislation on passive euthanasia noting that this would “provide clarity, coherence, and certainty in matters that are deeply practical and emotionally sensitive”.
In its first-ever order allowing passive euthanasia, the top court permitted the withdrawal of artificial life support to 32-year-old Harish Rana, who is in coma for more than 13 years after suffering head injury in August 2013, holding that prospects of his recovery are negligible.
A bench of justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said despite the profound constitutional, ethical, and medical dimensions involved, the field continues to remain largely unregulated by legislation in India.
“We urge the Union Government to consider enacting a comprehensive legislation on the subject in line with the vision of the Bench in Common Cause. Such legislation would provide clarity, coherence, and certainty in matters that are deeply practical and emotionally sensitive,” the bench said.
The top court said due to lack of legislation, it has been constrained to step in and frame guidelines, not as a matter of institutional preference, but as a matter of constitutional necessity, in order to safeguard the sanctity of fundamental rights, more particularly the right to life with dignity.
“We underscore that judicial intervention in this domain has never been intended to supplant legislative wisdom, but only to operate as a temporary constitutional bridge until Parliament discharges its role,” it said.
The court said on more than one occasion, it has expressly invited legislative attention to the issue and urged Parliament to consider enacting a comprehensive legislation addressing the practice of euthanasia and/or the withdrawal or withholding of medical treatment.
“It is pertinent to mention that although two Law Commission Reports have examined the subject in depth, and several private members’ bills have been introduced in Parliament, yet these have not generated sustained legislative deliberation,” the bench said.
The apex court said after its judgement in Common Cause in 2023, the Directorate General of Health Services, MoHFW, released Draft Guidelines for public consultation in June 2024.
However, no fruitful conclusion has been reached to date, even on these guidelines, it said.
The top court emphasised that the cumulative effect of prolonged legislative inaction is leaving citizens, particularly those situated at the most vulnerable threshold of life, exposed to serious and systemic risk.
“In the absence of a clear and comprehensive legislation, end-of-life decisions stand imperilled by the possibility that considerations wholly extraneous to medical science or the patient’s autonomy, most notably financial distress, lack of insurance coverage, or socio-economic vulnerability, may imperceptibly shape outcomes.
“Such a vacuum creates the danger that decisions ostensibly grounded in compassion or clinical futility may, in reality, be driven by the inability of families to sustain prolonged and expensive medical intervention, thereby blurring the line between a genuine best-interest determination and an act compelled by economic exhaustion,” the bench said.
The order allowing passive euthanasia is in line with the court’s 2018 Common Cause judgment, which was modified in 2023 and recognised the fundamental right to die with dignity.
In the 2018 judgement, a constitution bench had recognised passive euthanasia and the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right under Article 21. The court had held that passive euthanasia could be carried out using “Advance Medical Directives”.
On January 24, 2023, a five-judge Constitution bench modified the 2018 guidelines to ease the process of granting passive euthanasia to terminally ill patients.
A primary and a secondary medical board will have to be formed for an expert opinion on the withdrawal of artificial life support for a patient in a vegetative state, the guidelines stated. PTI PKS ZMN
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