A 31-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state for 13 years following a horrific accident can now die after the Supreme Court granted his parents' request to withdraw life support. The court has also recommended the government to explore enacting legislation on passive euthanasia, which is legal in India only after the Supreme Court considers the findings of two medical boards on the patient's health.
Harish Rana, a Punjab University student, fell from the fourth floor of a paying guesthouse in 2013 and sustained serious injuries. He was placed on life support. Since then, he has been confined to a bed with a tracheostomy tube for breathing and a gastrojejunostomy tube for eating.In its order, the bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan stated, "Gods ask no man; if he accepts life, you must take it." These are the remarks of (US Minister) Henry (Ward Beecher), which are significant when courts are questioned if persons can choose to die." Justice Pardiwala cited the well-known phrase "To be or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, claiming it was being used to determine the "right to die."
The court stated that the withdrawal of life support must be justified on two grounds: the action must be medically necessary and in the patient's best interests."Harish Rana was a brilliant young 20-year-old boy studying at Punjab University when he fell from the fourth storey of a building and suffered brain damage. Harish was discharged, but his brain damage left him in a chronic vegetative condition. He endures a sleep-wake cycle and is reliant on others. "The medical report shows no improvement in 13 years," the court stated.