In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of India has allowed passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a 32-year-old man who has remained in a coma for 13 years after suffering severe brain injuries in a fall. The decision marks the first instance of court-ordered passive euthanasia in the country.

The verdict was delivered by a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan. The court also clarified important aspects of its 2018 judgment that recognised passive euthanasia as legal in India under certain conditions.

Court clarifies scope of passive euthanasia

A key legal question before the bench was whether clinically administered nutrition and hydration should be considered medical treatment. The court ruled that food and fluids supplied through medical tubes qualify as medical intervention. Therefore, such life-sustaining measures can be withdrawn if medical boards conclude that continuing treatment is not in the patient’s best interest.

Opening the verdict with reflections on life and death, the bench cited American preacher Henry Ward Beecher and referenced William Shakespeare’s famous dilemma of “to be or not to be,” acknowledging the moral and ethical complexities courts face in end-of-life decisions.

Background of the case

Harish Rana was just 20 years old when he fell from the fourth floor of a building in 2013, suffering severe brain injuries that left him with 100% quadriplegia. Since the accident, he has remained in a persistent vegetative state.

For over a decade, he has been sustained through nutrition delivered via a surgically installed PEG feeding tube. With no signs of recovery after 13 years, Rana’s parents approached the court seeking permission to withdraw life-sustaining treatment. They argued that the medical support only prolonged biological life without offering any hope of recovery.