Father Hails Supreme Court Decision Allowing Passive Euthanasia For Son Harish Rana
After hearing the matter, the Supreme Court accepted the plea and permitted the removal of life-sustaining support.
Published : March 11, 2026 at 7:11 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a father’s plea for passive euthanasia for his son Harish Rana, who has been in a permanent vegetative state for nearly 13 years. Harish's father, Ashok Rana, had approached the court seeking permission to withdraw life support. After hearing the matter, the Supreme Court accepted the plea and permitted the removal of life-sustaining support.
Speaking about the decision, Ashok Rana said, "We thank the judiciary, lawyers and the doctors who supported us during our son's treatment. Following the court’s order, the Supreme Court’s medical board examined him and confirmed that he is brain dead."
"This is not only Harish Rana's case. There are thousands of families in the country with children lying on hospital beds for years. The court’s decision will give courage to hundreds of fathers like me," he said.
Harish has been bedridden since 2013 after suffering severe head injuries in an accident. He was then a civil engineering student pursuing BTech at a private university in Chandigarh and was also passionate about bodybuilding.
On August 20, 2013, Ashok Rana received a distressed call about his son that he had been hospitalised after falling from the fourth floor of a building. Since then, Harish has remained in a permanent vegetative state and is unable to move, speak, or respond. Over the years, his family sought treatment at leading institutions, including the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, besides several private hospitals. However, doctors eventually informed the family that the brain damage was irreversible and the chances of recovery were almost zero.
Ashok has spent his life's savings trying to save his son. The family once lived comfortably in Delhi, where he worked at a reputed five-star hotel and owned a house. But he had to sell his house to cover the medical expenses. The family later moved to Raj Nagar Extension in Ghaziabad and began living in an apartment in Raj Empire Society. With a pension of only Rs 4,000 a month, Ashok took up small jobs, including selling refreshments near a local cricket stadium, to cover medical expenses.
In the past 13 years, the family has spent over Rs 50 lakh on Harish’s treatment. It was the thought that there would be no one to look after Harish when Ashok and his wife would have gone, he approached the Delhi High Court in 2022 seeking permission for euthanasia. However, the High Court rejected the plea in 2024.
The family then moved the Supreme Court, requesting permission to withdraw life support. On January 15 this year, the court reserved its verdict after hearing the petition filed on behalf of the 32-year-old.
According to the family, Harish will now be kept under the supervision of experienced doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where his feeding tube will be removed as per medical protocol. The family said that once Harish passes away, his body will be brought home for the last rites.
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