India's first passive euthanasia case: Harish Rana dies after 13 years in coma

Harish Rana, whose case led to India’s first court-approved passive euthanasia, died on Tuesday at AIIMS-Delhi after spending more than 13 years in a coma, India Today reported. He was 31.

Rana had been in a vegetative state since 2013, when he fell from a fourth-floor balcony as a BTech student at Panjab University and suffered severe head injuries. For years, his life was sustained through artificial nutrition and occasional oxygen support.

Earlier this month, his case reached the Supreme Court, where his parents sought permission to withdraw life support. On March 11, in a landmark ruling, the court allowed passive euthanasia — the first such instance in the country.

Three days later, Rana was shifted from his Ghaziabad home to the palliative care unit at Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS. Doctors then began a gradual withdrawal of nutritional support, following a plan designed to maintain dignity, as directed by the court.

A specialised medical team led by Dr Seema Mishra, professor and head of anaesthesia and palliative medicine, oversaw the process, with experts from neurosurgery, psychiatry, and onco-anaesthesia involved, according to news agency PTI.

Rana is survived by his parents, Ashok and Nirmala Rana, who had cared for him through the years. The court acknowledged their role, noting: “His family never left his side.”

After the judgment, the family had said their decision was not driven by personal reasons but by a larger purpose, hoping it would help others facing similar situations. His father had said allowing passive euthanasia would restore Harish’s dignity after years of irreversible suffering.

In its ruling, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said medical boards had unanimously found no possibility of recovery and that continued treatment would only prolong biological existence. The court noted that Rana was surviving through clinically administered nutrition via “percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy” tubes.

“When primary and secondary boards have certified withdrawal of life support, there is no need for judicial intervention,” the bench said.

The court also asked the Union government to consider framing a comprehensive law on passive euthanasia and directed states to maintain panels of doctors for such decisions.

The order builds on the Supreme Court’s 2018 Common Cause judgment, which recognised passive euthanasia and the right to die with dignity as part of the right to life under Article 21. The guidelines were eased further in 2023, allowing medical boards to take such calls without requiring court approval in every case.

(With inputs from PTI)