In a landmark development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the first time permitted passive euthanasia under the legal framework laid down in its 2018 Common Cause judgment, updated in 2023. The decision came from a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice KV Viswanathan, marking a turning point in India’s evolving right-to-die-with-dignity jurisprudence. The order was passed while hearing a plea filed by the father of 32-year-old Harish Rana, who has remained in an irreversible vegetative state for 13 years after suffering a devastating fall from a building.
