No judgement validates euthanasia, says SC

New Delhi: A five judge Constitution Bench of Supreme Court, also comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiva Kirti Singh, said its earlier Constitution Bench verdict, which was wrongly relied on in the Aruna Shanbaug case, had held that the right to live with dignity would be inclusive of the right to die with dignity, but the judgement did not arrive at a conclusion for validity of euthanasia.

“... the only judgement that holds the field in regard to euthanasia in India is the Aruna Shanbaug case, which upholds the validity of passive euthanasia and lays down an elaborate procedure for executing the same on the wrong premise that the Constitution Bench had upheld the same,” it said.

The SC said its earlier Constitution Bench did not express any binding view on the subject; rather it reiterated that legislature would be the appropriate authority to bring the change.

Referring to inconsistent opinions in the Shanbaug case, the bench said at one place the Constitution Bench had held that euthanasia could be made lawful only by legislation, but had later in the judgement contradicted its own interpretation of the verdict.