Embracing Freedom: Discussing The Question Of Passive Euthanasia In The Background Of Right To Die With Dignity
- NLR Journal
- Apr 5
- 2 min read
By Archana Prakash, LL.M., Govt. Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Abstract
Euthanasia can be defined as the practice of intentionally ending the life of a patient who is suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma condition. Euthanasia has several forms, but in legal parlance it is recognized as two distinct types, i.e.; active euthanasia and passive euthanasia. In 2005, an NGO named Common Cause approached the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India with revolutionary prayers and in 2018 the court reiterated the position laid down in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab[1] stating that the right to live with dignity enshrined under Art. 21 of the Indian Constitution includes the right to die with dignity and gave sanction for passive euthanasia under strict formalities. The court also declared that living wills executed by a terminally ill patient when in sound mind and good condition can be considered as a valid document and in 2023, the Supreme Court of India eased the rules for passive euthanasia with the primary vision to make the process less difficult and less time-consuming. In September 2024, the Union Health Ministry released draft guidelines titled 'Draft Guidelines for Withdrawal of Life Support in Terminally Ill Patients’ aiming to provide a structured framework for implementing passive euthanasia. The present research aims to showcase the concept of euthanasia as a freedom of individual in the light of supreme court’s stances on right to die with dignity, with special reference to the case, Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v. Union of India and Anr[2]. The goal of the research is to find out whether the court’s decision in legalizing passive euthanasia expanded the jurisprudence of freedom as a right in the modern era and whether it is really suitable in Indian context or not.
Keywords: Active Euthanasia, Passive Euthanasia, Living Will.
[1] (1996) 2 SCC 648
[2] AIR 2018 SC 1665
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