SC moves toward final decision on life support withdrawal

THe sublime margaret court on th moved a tread finisher to taking a “final call” on whether life support and medical treatment may be withdrawn from a 31-year-old man who has remained in a vegetative state for more than a decade, after a secondary medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) concluded that there was little to no possibility of his condition improving.A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan fixed January 13 to personally interact with the parents and siblings of Harish Rana, signalling that the court is now poised to issue final directions in a case that could become India’s first judicially sanctioned instance of passive euthanasia.After perusing the AIIMS report, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati placed the findings before the court, following which the bench observed that the matter had reached a decisive stage. “We have reached a stage where we will have to take the final call. It is a very sad report. It will be a big challenge for us as well, but we cannot keep this man in this condition for all times to come,” the bench remarked.The court agreed with the submission that consultation with the family was essential before any final order is passed and made it clear that it wished to meet the parents in person rather than through a virtual interaction. Advocate Rashmi Nandakumar, appearing for the family, told the bench that Harish’s immediate family consists of his parents and two siblings and that the court’s eventual decision would have to be guided by the “best interests of the person”.In its order, the court recorded that the secondary medical board had been constituted pursuant to its December 11 directions and that AIIMS had submitted its report dated December 16. The report details the patient’s medical history, general and neurological examination, diagnostic criteria and overall prognosis, concluding that improvement in his condition was highly improbable. Copies of the report were directed to be supplied to both sides, with the bench requesting counsel to study it closely and assist the court.The bench also directed both counsels to interact with Harish’s parents and other family members and place a report of those discussions before the court. The parents have been asked to remain present in the committee room of the Supreme Court on January 13, when the bench will hear them and proceed to pass final orders.The proceedings are the culmination of a long and painful legal battle waged by Harish’s family. A former Panjab University student, Harish suffered catastrophic head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation in 2013. Since then, he has remained bedridden, entirely unresponsive and dependent on clinically assisted nutrition and hydration. While he is not on mechanical ventilation, he survives through feeding tubes and requires round-the-clock care.On December 11, the Supreme Court had ordered the constitution of a secondary medical board at AIIMS after a primary board, comprising doctors from Ghaziabad and Meerut, reported that Harish suffered from 100% disability quadriplegia and that his chances of recovery were “negligible”. The primary report, supported by photographs, also documented severe bedsores, which the court described as an indicator of irreversible deterioration and prolonged suffering.“Doctors have said in so many words that there is no question of recovery… We will have to do something now. We can’t allow him to live like this,” the bench had observed at the time, noting that the case warranted moving to the next stage contemplated under the Supreme Court’s landmark Common Cause judgment.Passive euthanasia has been legal in India since the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Common Cause, subsequently refined through guidelines in 2023. The framework permits withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in cases of terminal illness or irreversible vegetative state, subject to a layered medical and judicial process designed to safeguard patient autonomy and prevent abuse.Harish’s parents had first approached the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking permission for passive euthanasia, but the court had then declined to intervene, instead nudging the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure continued medical care. The family later returned to court after his condition worsened, invoking the liberty granted by the bench in November last year.The present application argued that clinically assisted nutrition and hydration amount to life-sustaining treatment and that continuing such intervention serves no therapeutic purpose. The parents, now elderly and financially exhausted after selling their house to fund years of care, have told the court that all possible treatments, therapies and home-based care options were exhausted under earlier directions.