About 

• Euthanasia, often referred to as “mercy killing,” involves intentionally ending a person’s life to alleviate intractable suffering.
• It is broadly classified into two type,
  • Active Euthanasia: Involves direct actions to cause the patient’s death, such as administering a lethal injection.
  • Passive Euthanasia:  Entails withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatments, allowing the patient to die naturally.

Euthanasia in India

• In India, passive euthanasia is legally permissible under specific conditions.
• The Supreme Court recognized this in the landmark Aruna Shanbaug case (2011), allowing the withdrawal of life support for patients in a permanent vegetative state.
• This was further reinforced in the Common Cause v. Union of India (2018) judgment, where the Court upheld the right to die with dignity and provided guidelines for implementing passive euthanasia, including the recognition of living wills or advance directives.

Why in the News?

• The Karnataka Government has issued an order directing to set up medical boards in the state’s hospitals to facilitate requests for dignified deaths. 
• The move is based on a Supreme Court ruling of 2023 which stated that the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right to die with dignity.