Patna, Feb. 22 :    Patna, Feb. 22:  Patna High Court today dismissed a petition for mercy-killing filed by relatives of Kanchan Devi, who has been in coma for the past one-and-a-half years. The relatives had appealed to the high court as she was showing no sign of improvement ever since she slipped into a coma following complications. Kanchan Devi's lawyers had prayed for help from the state government so that she could be examined by a medical board which would help the court consider her family's appeal for mercy-killing. In an interim order passed earlier, the court had directed the state government to take full responsibility for the patient's treatment. In response, the state government sent Kanchan Devi to Patna Medical College and Hospital. The hospital authorities later sent her back home. They told her husband, Tarakeswar Chandravanshi - a tea-stall owner - to admit her to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi as the state hospital did not have the infrastructure to treat a patient like her. The high court again took up the matter after Tarakeswar said it was not possible for him to take his wife to the AIIMS because he would not be able to afford the cost of treatment. The argument continued for two days before the division bench of Chief Justice Ravi S. Dhawan and Justice S.K. Singh concluded today that the petitioners were after publicity and there was no merit in their appeal. The court, however, stuck to its earlier order directing the state government to arrange for the woman's treatment and, if necessary, to take the help of NGOs. It also appeared to have accepted the contention of the doctors who deposed before the court that the patient needed dressing everyday and not treatment. But an unhappy Tarakeswar blamed the court for not considering the plight of the patient and her relatives. 'We have got caught in a web of useless laws. The court saw the publicity aspect of the case but overlooked the trauma of the woman who is lying comatose for over one year. What will happen to her now?' he told reporters after the high court verdict. His lawyers, however, said they had faith in the judiciary and would now appeal before the Supreme Court. Some legal experts pointed out that if medicine fails to cure Kanchan Devi, there was indeed a legal remedy to the case as the apex court recognised the right to live with dignity.