The Supreme Court of India.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its willingness to meet the parents of a 31-year-old man, lying in a comatose condition for more than 12 years, while considering his father's plea for passive euthanasia by withdrawing artificial life support.
"We want to speak to the parents of the man on January 13 and for the counsel to study the report so that they can assist the court in passing final orders," a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said.
The court was hearing a miscellaneous application of the father seeking to remove all life-sustaining treatment from his son.
The bench also went through the report of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) concerning the examination of the 32-year-old man, who has remained in a vegetative state for the past 12 years after falling from a building.
The bench observed that it is a "sad report" and the boy can't continue to live like this.
The AIIMS, New Delhi -- after being ordered by the top court -- in its secondary report examined the medical history, neurological examination and other observations etc. This was followed before the first (primary) report highlighted that the man's chances of recovery were negligible.
"The man has been lying on the bed with a tracheostomy tube for respiration and a gastrostomy for feeding. The photographs showed that he has suffered huge bed sores," the primary report said.
As per the guidelines laid down in the 2018 constitution bench judgment in Common Cause, as modified in the January 2023 order, the court has to get the opinions of Primary and Secondary Medical Boards before allowing passive euthanasia.