Supreme Court Permits Passive Euthanasia for Man in Vegetative State

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday permitted the withdrawal of life-sustaining medical treatment for Harish Rana, a 32-year-old man who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 13 years following a severe brain injury, marking the first application of passive euthanasia guidelines established in a landmark 2018 ruling.

The decision came from a bench comprising Justices J. B. Pardiwala and K. V. Viswanathan, who heard a plea filed by Rana's parents seeking to end his prolonged dependence on artificial support. Rana suffered catastrophic head injuries in August 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation in Chandigarh, where he was studying civil engineering at Panjab University. The accident left him with complete quadriplegia and no meaningful brain function, requiring continuous care including a tracheostomy tube for breathing and clinically administered nutrition through surgically installed PEG tubes. Medical reports submitted to the court indicated no improvement in his condition over the past decade, with experts concluding that recovery was impossible.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Pardiwala became visibly emotional, briefly...