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The Supreme Court connected Wednesday (May 13, 2026) expressed appreciation for the household of Harish Rana, the archetypal idiosyncratic successful India to beryllium permitted withdrawal of clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH), for their “selfless” determination to donate his corneas and bosom valves.
A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan said specified “generosity” would guarantee that Rana’s bequest lives connected done the lives helium saves.
“Harish near his mortal satellite connected his ain terms, surrounded by emotion and compassion. Even successful the look of their ain loss, his household chose generosity done the selfless determination to donate his corneas and bosom valves. His beingness continues successful others. His bequest volition unrecorded connected successful the lives of those helium saved,” the Bench said.
Rana had sustained terrible caput injuries and suffered 100% quadriplegic disablement aft falling from the 4th level of his paying impermanent accommodation portion helium was a pupil astatine Panjab University successful 2013.
In a first-of-its-kind judicial bid successful India, the Supreme Court connected March 11 had held that withdrawal of life-sustaining attraction to debar the artificial prolongation of the dying process and the accompanying symptom would uphold a patient’s dignity and bodily integrity. Accordingly, the tribunal had directed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, to displacement Rana from his residence successful Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to its palliative attraction centre.
Subsequently, Rana passed distant astatine 4.10 p.m. connected March 24 astatine the palliative attraction portion of the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital astatine AIIMS, Delhi.
The judges acknowledged that the litigation had imparted profound lessons to the tribunal arsenic well, and said it served arsenic a poignant reminder that prolonging beingness successful a mode a idiosyncratic would not take for themselves amounts to an affront to law guarantees of dignity and autonomy.
‘Medicine has its limits’
“In Harish’s last moments, helium experienced care, comfort, and respect. His peaceful passing away, escaped from tubes and machines, reflects autonomy and dignity successful some beingness and death. It besides serves arsenic a reminder that medicine has its limits. Allowing idiosyncratic to walk connected their ain presumption and alleviating their suffering affirms their dignity and honours their eventual power implicit their assemblage and mind,” the Bench said.
The judges besides expressed gratitude to the full aesculapian squad and nursing unit astatine AIIMS, Delhi, for ensuring that Rana suffered the slightest and “passed distant peacefully”. The tribunal besides noted its appreciation for the capable assistance rendered by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Union government, and advocator Rashmi Nandakumar, appearing for Mr. Rana and his parents.
The court, however, directed Ms. Bhati to record a compliance affidavit regarding the directions issued successful its March 11 judgement and posted the substance for proceeding successful July. In its ruling, the tribunal had directed Chief Medical Officers successful each districts to represent panels of registered aesculapian practitioners to service arsenic secondary aesculapian boards for examining applications seeking withdrawal of beingness support. It had besides urged the Centre to see enacting a circumstantial authorities laying down the process for withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.
The tribunal had distinguished progressive euthanasia arsenic a “positive overt act, specified arsenic the medication of a lethal injection, designed to straight origin oregon accelerate death” from “passive euthanasia”, present termed “withdrawal of beingness support”, which it described arsenic the cessation of futile aesculapian treatment.
“The withholding of aesculapian attraction simply allows the earthy way of beingness to tally its inevitable people and truthful cannot beryllium termed arsenic the extinguishment of beingness oregon an unnatural termination of life. Consequently, the aforesaid is held not to autumn foul of Article 21 (right to beingness and dignity),” the tribunal had reasoned.
‘Not abandonment’
The judges had besides cautioned that withholding of life-sustaining interventions should not beryllium a “single act” nor an “act of abandonment” of unconscious oregon incompetent patients successful a persistent vegetative state.
The tribunal had noted that Rana’s adjacent of kin, arsenic good arsenic the aesculapian boards constituted to measure his condition, had unanimously concluded that continuation of CANH and aesculapian attraction would service nary intent and that withdrawal would beryllium successful his champion interest.
“Ordinarily, it would not necessitate an involution of this tribunal aft the aesculapian boards’ opinion, but since it is the archetypal specified case, the tribunal has decided to delve further into the issue,” the Bench had said.
