THE Supreme Court today dismissed a petition for mercy killing filed on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug, a 60-year-old nurse living in a vegetative state for the past 37 years in a hospital after a horrific sexual assault.
A bench comprising Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra dismissed the petition saying that while active euthanasia was illegal, in exceptional circumstances ‘passive euthanasia’ can be permitted.
Aruna Shanbaug has been lying in a Mumbai hospital since she was brutally raped in 1973 when she was 23. The assault resulted in severe brain damage and paralysis. Since then, she has been in a vegetative state which means she is ‘clinically awake’. At the Mumbai hospital, she is fed twice a day by nurses.
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The petition was filed by activist Pinki Virani who contended on Shanbaug’s behalf that she cannot see or speak properly and keeping her alive violates her right to live with dignity.
Doctors who are caring for her in their report to the Supreme Court said Shanbaug responds by facial expressions. Delivering the judgment, the SC said that the journalist could not make the demand on her behalf. Shanbaug’s parents died many years ago and relatives have not been in touch.
However, in a significant observation, the apex court said that doctors and nurses could petition to remove life support for some terminally ill patients, provided the request is supervised by High Courts.
