Case Comment: India: in absence of legislative action Supreme Court outlines euthanasia regime for India

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

1-2012

Abstract

For nearly 37 years, Shuanbag has been in a "vegetative state," cared for and attended to by the personnel at the King Edwards Memorial (KEM) Hospital, Mumbai. In Aruna Shuanbag, author and activist, Pinki Virani, approached the Supreme Court arguing that given her "sub-human" condition, the medical personnel be directed to stop feeding Shuanbag and let her die peacefully. Relying on the distinction between active and passive euthanasia, and the reasoning in the House of Lords decision in Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] 2 W.L.R. 316, the Supreme Court concluded that passive euthanasia "should be permitted in India under certain circumstances."

Keywords

India, Life-sustaining treatment, Persistent vegetative state, Withdrawal

Discipline

Medical Jurisprudence | Public Law and Legal Theory

Publication

Public Law

First Page

152

ISSN

0033-3565

Publisher

Sweet and Maxwell

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