Indian Journal for Research in Law and Management
Advancing Law and Management
ISSN No. : 2583-9896
ISSN No. : 2583-9896
EUTHANASIA - HARISH RANA V. UNION OF INDIA, 2026
Abstract
On 11 March 2026, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan, JJ. delivered its judgment in Harish Rana v. Union of India, authorising for the first time the actual withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a patient in a Permanent Vegetative State (“PVS”).The Harish Rana judgment of 2026 is a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court of India operationalised the “right to die with dignity” under Article 21 by permitting withdrawal of life sustaining treatment in a specific case of long term vegetative state, thereby concretising the passive euthanasia framework laid down in earlier precedents.