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Who is Harish Rana? Man granted euthanasia by SC for first time in India
Who is Harish Rana? Man granted euthanasia by SC for first time in India - Law explained
Passive euthanasia means discontinuing or withdrawing the external life support or medical treatment being used to keep a critically ill patient alive, allowing the patient to die naturally.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for 31-year-old Harish Rana, who has remained in a permanent vegetative state for more than a decade after suffering a severe brain injury in a fall in 2013.
A Bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan allowed the plea for passive euthanasia filed by Rana’s family, observing that his condition had not improved despite years of medical treatment.
The court also said that the medical board may use its clinical judgment to withdraw life support in line with the guidelines established in the landmark 2018 judgment in Common Cause v. Union of India, which recognised passive euthanasia and living wills.
This is the first case of its kind in the country. The Bench directed AIIMS to gradually withdraw Harish’s life-support system. The process must be carried out in a manner that preserves the patient’s dignity.
Passive euthanasia means discontinuing or withdrawing the external life support or medical treatment being used to keep a critically ill patient alive, allowing the patient to die naturally.
The Supreme Court delivered this judgement in response to a plea filed by Harish’s mother, Nirmala Rana, and father, Ashok Rana, seeking permission for euthanasia.
The SC bench quoted William Shakespeare’s "Hamlet" while announcing its decision.
Justice JB Pardiwala used Shakespeare’s famous line, “To be or not to be,” observing that it is now being interpreted in a judicial context while examining the Right to Die.
"The famous literary Shakespeare quote 'To be or not to be' is now being used for judicially interpreting the 'Right to Die," Justice Pardiwala said.
Who is Harish Rana ?
Harish Rana, who was born in Delhi, was pursuing a BTech degree at Panjab University in Chandigarh. In 2013, he fell from the fourth floor of his hostel, which left his entire body paralysed and pushed him into a coma. He is unable to speak or feel anything.
Doctors diagnosed Harish with quadriplegia, a condition in which a patient is completely dependent on a feeding tube for food and water and on ventilator support to survive. There is no possibility of recovery. Since then, he has remained bedridden and dependent on others for all the daily life activities. His condition has been continuously deteriorating.
As per the court, Rana exhibits sleep–wake cycles but does not show any meaningful awareness of or interaction with his environment. This situation has been extremely painful for Harish, and it has become mentally very difficult for his family to see him in such a state.
Law for Euthanasia in India
In 2005, an NGO named Common Cause filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking recognition of the right to passive euthanasia. On March 9, 2018, a five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra granted legal recognition to passive euthanasia.
The Court held that this right is part of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees not only the right to live with dignity but also the right to die with dignity.
There are two types of euthanasia:
Passive euthanasia: In this method, medical treatment or life support—such as a ventilator, feeding tube, or medicines—is withdrawn or stopped so that the patient can die naturally. Doctors do not perform any new intervention; they simply discontinue the treatment. The cause of death remains the underlying illness.
Active euthanasia: In this method, doctors use medicines or injections to deliberately cause the patient’s death. This is illegal in India. If someone intentionally administers drugs to end a patient’s life, it is treated as murder or as abetment of suicide under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Previous case of such kind
Harish Rana’s case is the first of its kind in India where the rules for passive euthanasia, laid down by the Supreme Court, are actually being followed. In the 2018 Common Cause judgment, the Supreme Court framed guidelines for passive euthanasia, however until now those rules had not been applied in any case.
The case of Harish Rana is the first in which these guidelines are being implemented.
However, the 2011 Aruna Shanbaug case was the first to make passive euthanasia legal, which later became the basis for the 2018 Common Cause judgment.
What was Aruna Shanbaug Case
In 1973, Aruna Shanbaug, a nurse at KEM Hospital in Mumbai, was attacked and raped by a ward attendant. Due to severe brain injuries from the assault, Aruna went into a coma. She spent nearly 42 years in a persistent vegetative state after the sexual assault.
Considering her critical condition, in 2009, journalist Pinky Virani filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Aruna’s behalf, requesting that her life-support systems be withdrawn so that she could die naturally.
While hearing the case, the Supreme Court recognized euthanasia as a legal right, but it did not permit euthanasia for Aruna, because she was still able to breathe to some extent without life-support machines. Later, in 2015, Aruna Shanbaug died of natural causes.
Source: ZeeNews
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