Abstract

In India, both the legislature as well as judiciary have been volatile on their stand in holding all forms of active euthanasia illegal. However, there has been a prolonged debate on the validity of passive euthanasia. With different judicial pronouncements and the few legislations in this regard, its legal status has kept on changing in a mercurial manner. In India, for a very long time, the decision of deliberately choosing to die, was considered acceptable only in spiritual realm. However, all the above discussed judicial dictums, scrupulously legitimizing passive euthanasia, discerning it from suicide and delineating guidelines for Advance Directives, reflects how the country’s legal regime is marching towards encapsulating some of that spirit in itself. In this article, the author discusses the judicial developments over the years on the cases related to euthanasia and right to life, and analysed the highly progressive and evolved mindset of the judges has been portrayed through this ruling, in the manner they have tried to direct this dictum to take a leap forward to cope up with the dynamically changing society.

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