Supreme Court allows passive euthanasia for Ghaziabad man in coma for over 12 years

March 11, 2026

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed passive euthanasia for a 31-year-old man in a first-of-its-kind verdict in India. The man had been in a coma for over 12 years. His artificial life support system has now been removed. Passive euthanasia is the deliberate act of allowing a patient to die by withholding or withdrawing life-support equipment or treatment necessary to keep them alive.

Harish Rana suffered severe head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of a building in 2013 and has been in a coma for over a decade. Now, in a historic judgment, the Supreme Court has granted permission to withdraw the life support system. The verdict was pronounced to maintain the dignity of the patient, Harish Rana.

Expressed desire to meet parents
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan directed AIIMS to admit Rana to the palliative care unit so that medical treatment could be discontinued. The bench said it should be ensured that the withdrawal process is carried out with a well-planned procedure to maintain Rana’s dignity.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had expressed the 31-year-old’s desire to meet his parents. The court had studied Rana’s medical history report, prepared by a secondary medical board of doctors from AIIMS-Delhi, and commented that it was a sad report.

According to the report, the man’s condition was pathetic.
After examining the patient’s condition, the primary medical committee had emphasized that his chances of recovery were negligible. The Supreme Court had said on December 11 that according to the primary medical board’s report, the man’s condition was pathetic.

According to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 2023, a primary and a secondary medical board must be formed to obtain expert opinion regarding the removal of artificial life support systems for a comatose patient.

Who is Harish Rana

Harish Rana, a former Panjab University student and a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, suffered head injuries in 2013 after falling from the fourth floor of the building. Since then, he has remained unresponsive and confined to bed, totally dependent on feeding tubes for nutrition and hydration.

Although he is not on mechanical ventilation, he requires round-the-clock care and has shown no neurological improvement for over 10 years.

After years of treatment and therapy, his parents approached the Supreme Court looking for permission to withdraw life-supporting treatment, arguing that continued medical intervention served no beneficial purpose for him.