'A Very Hard Case…’, Says SC On Couple’s Plea For Passive Euthanasia For Son

The Supreme Court on Tuesday described a case as a "very hard case" as it sought the Centre's response to a plea from a couple whose 30-year-old son has been in a vegetative state for 11 years. The man suffered severe head injuries in 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of a building and has remained in this condition since then.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a case before it is a very “hard case” while seeking the Centre's response on a couple’s plea, whose 30-year-old son in 2013 has been lying in a vegetative state in a hospital after suffering head injuries. The man has been in a vegetative state for 11 years after he suffered a fall from the fourth floor of a building.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the patient, Harish Rana, is not on ventilator or other mechanical support to sustain life. The bench said he was being fed through a food pipe and hence, no case was made out for passive euthanasia.

The apex court agreed with the Delhi High Court’s rejecting the parents' plea that a Medical Board be set up to consider passive euthanasia for Rana. The High Court had observed that no medical professional will cause death by injecting some substance into a patient, who is alive without any mechanical or ventilator support.

The apex court said the High Court held that passive euthanasia is not permissible as per the Common Cause judgment, which was delivered by it, and that the person was not kept alive mechanically and was alive without external life support. “We are in support with the view of the High Court and the case does not fall under the ambit of passive euthanasia since there is no external life support," said the apex court.

The CJI-led bench said the court is mindful that the parents are now aged and cannot care for their son who has been bedridden for so many years and if any humanitarian solution can be found other than passive euthanasia. The bench said it will explore the possibility of shifting the patient to a government hospital or a similar place for treatment and care.

The apex court said it is issuing notice to the Centre and asked additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati to assist it. “We will see if he can be placed somewhere else. This is a very hard case," said the bench. The bench also asked Bhati to explore the possibility of lodging Rana at a hospital where he could be taken care of. Bhati said she would look into the matter.

Passive euthanasia is the intentional act of letting a patient die by withholding or withdrawing life support or treatment necessary for maintaining life. The man’s old parents are finding it difficult to sustain life through treatment as they have even sold their house. In July, the high court refused to refer Rana's case to a medical board for allowing him to undergo passive euthanasia.