The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed its desire to meet the parents of a 31-year-old man in light of their petition from the father seeking withdrawal of life support for his own son who has been in a comatose condition (comma) for more than 12 years now.
While considering his father’s plea for passive withdrawal of artificial life support, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan sought a report containing detailed medical history of the patient in question, Harish Rana which had been filed by medical professionals from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi and labelled it as a ‘very sad report’.
“It is a very sad report. We cannot keep this boy in this stage,” the bench observed while scheduling a meeting with Rana’s parents at 3 pm on January 13.
Suffering from a string of major head injuries after taking an unfortunate fall from the fourth floor of a building, Harsih Rana has been on an artificial life support system since 2013.
Medical practitioners on chances of Harish Rana’s recovery
Multiple medical documents containing the complete medical history of the patient along with some photographs had been submitted to the court ahead of the hearing. After a thorough examination of the current physical condition of Harish Rana, the primary medical board assessing the case told the court that there is a negligence chance of the patient’s recovery.
Acknowledging the report submitted by the doctors from AIIMS, the top court noted that Harish had been in a vegetative state for quite some time. “He was found lying on a bed with a tracheostomy tube for respiration and gastrostomy for feeding. The photographs attached with the letter indicate that he has suffered huge bed sores. The team of doctors is of the opinion that the chance of his recovery from the present state is negligible. Harish appears to be in this vegetative condition for the past 13 years,” the court noted.
What happens now?
“In such circumstances, we should now proceed to the next step in the process,” the judicial bench said before ordering the constitution of the secondary medical board for the purpose of the examination of the patient to be headed by the chief medical officer of the institute.
“We request the AIIMS to constitute the secondary board and give us a report by next Wednesday,” the bench said, while directing that the letter of excerpts and other documents shall be forwarded to the AIIMS director at the earliest.
The bench has decided to meet Rana’s parents personally before passing further orders. The outcome of the interaction, along with the medical findings, will determine whether the court permits withdrawal of artificial life support under India’s passive euthanasia framework.
The petition for withdrawing life support for Harsish had first come before the Delhi high court in 2023 before the parents took it up with the Supreme Court upon being unsatisfied with Delhi’s decision.
Describing the case as a “very hard one”, the top court last year had also sought the Centre’s response on the plea of Harish’s parents. Harish, who was a student of the Punjab University and had suffered head injuries after falling from the fourth floor of his paying-guest accommodation in 2013.
During earlier hearings, the court also took into consideration the fact that Rana’s aging parents had almost completely exhausted their financial resources and had even sold their house to continue his treatment. The Supreme Court acknowledged the severe emotional and economic toll on the family while stressing the need to strictly follow legal safeguards.