Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the withdrawal of medical treatment to 31 year old Harish Rana in a first passive euthanasia case in the country. The top court directed Delhi’s AIIMS to admit Rana and provide all necessary facilities in carrying out exercise of withdrawing life support system.A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan pronounced the momentous verdict.Rana has been in a vegetative state with 100 percent disability and quadriplegia, requiring continuous medical assistance for breathing, feeding and daily care.The top court held that an individual can choose death when prolonging life through artificial life support goes against their dignity and there is no hope of recovery.
Last year, the top court bench of the same Justices expressed its wish to meet the parents of the ailing man. The bench had examined a report on Rana’s medical history submitted by a secondary medical board from AIIMS-Delhi and described it as a “sad” report.The primary medical board, after assessing Rana’s condition, said there was a negligible chance of recovery.On December 11, the court noted that, according to the primary medical board’s report, the patient was in a “pathetic condition”.As per guidelines issued by the apex court in 2023, both a primary and a secondary medical board must be constituted to give expert opinion on withdrawing artificial life support for a patient in a vegetative state.
