Supreme Court allows withdrawal of life support for Harish Rana after 11 years in vegetative state, marking a rare use of India’s passive euthanasia law.
Court records placed before the bench noted that Rana suffers from 100 percent disability with quadriplegia and has not responded to treatment, surviving only through artificial life-support systems. (Photo: Social Media)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for Harish Rana, who has remained in a persistent vegetative state for more than eleven years following a traumatic accident, marking a rare application of India’s passive euthanasia framework.
A bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan delivered the verdict after reserving judgment in the matter on 15 January, when the court heard extensive submissions from the parties.
Rana’s plea was moved through his father Ashok Rana seeking permission to withdraw life-sustaining treatment, including clinically assisted nutrition and hydration, on the ground that he had remained in a permanent vegetative state for years with no prospect of recovery.
Court records placed before the bench noted that Rana suffers from 100 percent disability with quadriplegia and has not responded to treatment, surviving only through artificial life-support systems.
The litigation originated from a petition filed before the Delhi High Court seeking constitution of a medical board to examine his medical condition and facilitate passive euthanasia. The matter later reached the Supreme Court through a special leave petition.
In earlier proceedings in November 2024, the Supreme Court had disposed of the petition after the Union government proposed arrangements for his care, including home-based medical support with physiotherapy visits, dietician supervision, nursing care, free medicines and an on-call medical officer, or alternatively treatment at District Hospital, Sector-39, Noida.
However, the family later approached the court again stating that Rana’s condition had deteriorated further and that he continued to remain in a persistent vegetative state despite prolonged treatment.
The ruling assumes significance in the context of India’s evolving jurisprudence on end-of-life decisions. The legal basis for passive euthanasia in India was first recognised by the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Aruna Shanbaug v. Union of India in 2011.
Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse at Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial Hospital who was brutally assaulted in November 1973 by a ward attendant. She was strangled with a dog chain and sexually assaulted, which caused severe brain damage and left her in a persistent vegetative state. Shanbaug remained bedridden for over four decades and was cared for by hospital staff during that time.
In 2011, the Supreme Court heard a plea seeking permission to withdraw her feeding and allow passive euthanasia. While the court rejected euthanasia in Shanbaug’s case, it delivered a landmark judgment recognising passive euthanasia under strict safeguards and requiring approval through medical boards and judicial oversight.
Shanbaug eventually died on 18 May 2015 at the age of 66 after contracting pneumonia, leading to respiratory complications. Her death occurred naturally and not through withdrawal of life support.
The law on passive euthanasia was later expanded in Common Cause v. Union of India in 2018, when the Supreme Court recognised the constitutional right to die with dignity under Article 21 and permitted passive euthanasia along with living wills. The court further simplified the procedure in 2023 to make implementation of end-of-life decisions easier.
Against this legal backdrop, the Supreme Court’s order in Rana’s case is among the rare instances where the court has permitted withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment under the framework governing passive euthanasia in India.
Several countries permit active euthanasia or assisted dying under law, while India allows only passive euthanasia through withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment under Supreme Court guidelines.
