HC refuses to allow 30-yr-old head injury victim’s petition to undergo passive euthanasia

New Delhi: Delhi High Court has declined to allow a 30-year-old man's plea to undergo passive euthanasia. Due to head injuries suffered in 2013, the man is lying in a vegetative state and approached HC for his case to be referred to a medical board.
Taking note of the facts of the case, HC in a recent order noted that the man is not dependent on any life support mechanical systems to remain alive nor is he terminally ill.
“The petitioner is not on any life support system, and the petitioner is surviving without external aid. While the court sympathises with the parents, as the petitioner is not terminally ill, this court cannot intervene and allow consideration of a prayer that is legally untenable,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said, while also referring to Supreme Court judgments which held that active euthanasia is legally impermissible.
“The petitioner is thus living, and no one, including a physician, is permitted to cause the death of another person by administering any lethal drug, even if the objective is to relieve the patient of pain and suffering,” HC pointed out.
The court said it was not inclined to accept the request of the petitioner to refer him to a medical board to consider whether he could be allowed to undergo passive euthanasia and dismissed the petition.
Passive euthanasia refers to intentionally letting a patient die by withholding artificial life support such as a ventilator or feeding tube.
The petitioner was a student at Punjab University and suffered head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation in 2013. The plea said his family had done their best to treat him, but he has been confined to a bed since 2013 due to diffuse axonal injury with a permanent vegetative state and 100% disability.
The plea said his family consulted various doctors but were informed that there was no scope for his recovery. The petitioner, who has not responded for the last 11 years, has developed deep and large bed sores that have caused further infection.
It said the petitioner’s family had lost all hope for his recovery and his parents were not able to take care of him as they were getting old.