Passive vs Active Euthanasia: What Is the Difference?
Euthanasia broadly refers to ending the life of a person suffering from a terminal illness or irreversible condition to relieve pain and suffering
New Delhi: The debate around euthanasia has once again come into focus following the Supreme Court order allowing passive euthanasia for a 32-year-old man who has been in a comatose condition for more than 12 years. Euthanasia broadly refers to ending the life of a person suffering from a terminal illness or irreversible condition to relieve pain and suffering. It is mainly classified into passive euthanasia and active euthanasia.
Passive Euthanasia:
Passive euthanasia involves withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment such as ventilators, feeding tubes or other medical support, allowing the patient to die naturally. In India, passive euthanasia is permitted under strict guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India, which recognised the right to die with dignity in the Common Cause v. Union of India judgment.
Active Euthanasia:
In contrast, active euthanasia refers to deliberately ending a person’s life through direct medical intervention, such as administering a lethal injection. This form of euthanasia remains illegal in India.
Aruna Shanbaug v Union of India
The one case that stands out in India’s tumultuous history of legality of euthanasia would be Aruna Shanbaug’s. Shanbaug was sexually assaulted by a hospital janitor while working as a nurse in Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial Hospital, and the assault led her to remain in a vegetative state for the remaining period of her life. On 7th March 2011, after Shanbaug had been in this state for 37 years, the Supreme Court of India had rejected the plea for euthanasia filed by journalist-activist Pinki Virani.
In Rana's case, the top court earlier expressed its desire to meet the parents of the 32-year-old man. It had perused a report containing Rana's medical history filed by a secondary medical board of doctors from the AIIMS-Delhi and remarked that it was a "sad" report.
The primary medical board, after examining the patient's condition, had stressed the negligible chance of his recovery.
The top court had, on December 11, noted that according to the report of the primary medical board, the man is in a "pathetic condition".
According to the guidelines issued by the apex court in 2023, a primary and a secondary medical board will have to be formed for an expert opinion on the withdrawal of artificial life support for a patient in a vegetative state.
As of 2025, euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal (awaiting regulation),Spain, all six states of Australia and Uruguay(law passed and awaiting regulation).