SC refers euthanasia plea to constitution bench

The Supreme Court Tuesday referred to the constitution bench a plea for voluntary passive euthanasia in the case of a person who is terminally ill and in medical opinion there is little hope of revival and recovery.

A bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh in their order said: "It is clear that although (in 1996 in Gian Kaur case), the constitution bench upheld that the 'right to live with dignity' under article 21 will be inclusive of 'right to die with dignity', but the decision does not arrive at a conclusion for validity of euthanasia be it active or passive."

It said that only judgment of the apex court that permits passive euthanasia - withdrawing life support systems from and/or stopping medication to a terminally ill person and stopping the medication - and had also laid down an elaborate procedure for executing it is in Aruna Shanbaug case, but noted it was based on wrong premises that the constitution bench had, in the Gian Kaur case, upheld the practice.

The apex court July 7, 2011, while rejecting the plea for mercy killing of King Edward Memorial Hospital nurse Aruna Shanbaug, who has been in a "persistent vegetative state" for the past 37 years after being sodomised by a hospital sweeper, had laid down elaborate guidelines for carrying out passive euthanasia.

"In view of the inconsistent opinions rendered in Aruna Shanbaug case and also considering the important question of law involved which needs to be reflected in the light of social, legal, medical and constitutional perspective, it becomes extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law," the court said referring the matter to the constitution bench.

"Thus, in our cogent opinion, the question of law involved requires careful consideration by a constitution bench of this vourt for the benefit of humanity as a whole," it said.

The bench said they refrained from framing any specific questions for consideration by the constitution bench as it invite the latter "to go into all the aspects of the matter and lay down exhaustive guidelines in this regard".

The court's order came on the plea of NGO Common Cause which had sought the putting in place a procedure which would enable people with deteriorated health or terminally ill to be able to execute "my living will and attorney authorization" for passive euthanasia as and when situation arrives.