The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred the contentious issue of euthanasia to a Constitution Bench for deciding whether passive euthanasia can be permissible under the Constitution and if so, what are the guidelines for its execution.
Taking the decision, a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and SK Singh said that as on date, there was no clear law enunciating whether active or passive euthanasia was permissible. Only one judgment dealt with the issue from the perspective of a Mumbai nurse Aruna Shanbaug, lying in a permanent vegetative state for over 37 years after she was raped and left to die by a sweeper of the same hospital where she worked.
While the Aruna Shanbaug case in 2011 upheld validity of passive euthanasia, the bench found that it was based on a wrong understanding of a previous decision by a Constitution Bench. “In view of the inconsistent opinions rendered in Aruna Shanabug and also considering the important questions of law involved, which needs to be reflected in the light of social, legal, medical, and constitutional perspective, it becomes extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law.”
Referring the matter to a Constitution bench, comprising five or more judges, the bench held, “We invite the Constitution Bench to go into all aspects of matter and lay down exhaustive guidelines in this regard.”