The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Noida district hospital to constitute a primary medical board to examine the option of passive euthanasia for a 31-year-old who has been in a vegetative state for over a decade because of quadriplegia.

The apex court passed the direction on a plea by Harish Rana’s father Ashok Rana, who submitted that his son’s condition had deteriorated from “bad to worse” in the
last year and passive euthanasia was necessary to end his suffering.

Ashok’s counsel Rashmi Nandakumar told the bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala
and K.V. Viswanathan that the Supreme Court had, in its judgment in the Common Cause vs Union of India case in 2018, held that life support could be withdrawn to end the suffering of a patient in extreme cases.

“It appears from the averments... that Harish Rana is in a persistent vegetative state.... The learned counsel informs us that Harish is not responding to any treatment. Harish is being kept artificially alive. His condition has not improved at all in the past one year. Having regard to the pathetic condition of Harish, we are of the view that we should direct the District Hospital, Sector-39, Noida, to constitute a primary board of doctors... to give us a report whether the life-sustaining treatment can be withheld or, in other words, withdrawn,” the bench said.

The court asked the board to file the report preferably within two weeks, listing the matter for further hearing to December 12.

This is the second time that Harish’s parents had approached the apex court with a plea for passive euthanasia after Delhi High Court dismissed their plea. The high court had held that Harish was able to sustain himself without life support or external aid.