The Right To Die, With Dignity Harish Rana, a 20-year-old engineering student, faced an unimaginable fate in 2013 when he fell from the fourth floor of his PG accommodation, sustaining critical injuries that left him in a permanent vegetative state. Confined to a bed, he was sustained by life-support systems, with his parents and medical teams tending to him for 13 years. Despite their unwavering care, there was no improvement in his condition. Faced with the unbearable burden of prolonged suffering, Harish’s parents sought legal intervention, petitioning the Supreme Court to withdraw life support and allow nature to take its course. This case became a landmark moment in India’s constitutional discourse on the right to life with dignity under Article 21. The Supreme Court’s interpretation of Article 21, which guarantees the right to life and liberty, has evolved over time. In the 1996 case Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab, the Court ruled that while life under Article 21 includes the right to live with dignity, it does not extend to the right to die. However, this stance was challenged in 2011 with the case of Aruna Shanbaug, a woman left in a permanent vegetative state after a brutal sexual assault. Her friend, Pinki Virani, petitioned the Court to withdraw her life support, leading to the landmark decision in Aruna R. Shanbaug v. Union of India. Though the Court rejected Virani’s plea, it acknowledged the need for legal clarity on passive euthanasia—allowing the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for terminally ill patients. The ruling established guidelines to address the absence of legislative frameworks, emphasizing the importance of medical and legal safeguards. Further developments came in 2018 with the Common Cause v. Union of India case, which marked a significant shift in the Court’s approach.#supreme_court #harish_rana #common_cause #article_21 #pinki_virani
