New Delhi: In a historic verdict, the Supreme Court has allowed passive euthanasia for a 32-year-old man, who has been comatose 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. Ghaziabad’s Harish Rana, 32, suffered head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of a building in 2013 and has been in a coma for over a decade.
Delivering the verdict, Justice KV Viswanathan emphasized that the guiding principle in such cases must always be the welfare of the patient. “The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered,” he said.
The primary medical board, after examining the patient’s condition, had stressed the negligible chance of his recovery. The top court had, on December 11, noted that according to the report of the primary medical board, the man is in a “pathetic condition".
