What is Euthanasia? 

• About: Euthanasia refers to intentionally accelerating a person’s death to prevent further suffering from an incurable or terminal illness. It involves a painless, deliberate act aimed at relieving physical, emotional, or spiritual distress. It is of two types: 
• Active Euthanasia: It involves deliberately ending a patient’s life. It can take different forms:  
• Voluntary, where the patient consciously opts for death;  
• Non-voluntary, where the decision is made for an incompetent patient; and  
• Involuntary, where death is caused without consent (almost illegal in all countries). 
• Passive Euthanasia: It allows a terminally ill patient to die naturally by withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment.  
• This approach aims to uphold the right to die with dignity and prevent prolonged, futile suffering in irreversible medical conditions. 
• Legal Standing in India: 
• Active Euthanasia: Indian law prohibits active euthanasia. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, categorizes any deliberate act causing death as an offense, prosecutable under its sections on culpable homicide (Section 100) or murder (Section 101). 
• Passive Euthanasia: The Supreme Court (SC) has recognised passive euthanasia under certain restrictions, as long as it is in the best interests of the patient and follows the law. 
• Article 21 guarantees that no one shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except by law, and the Supreme Court interprets it to include health, livelihood, privacy, shelter, and dignity, but it does not include the right to die, except under certain circumstances allowing a dignified death 
• Law Commission Stand: The 241st Report of the Law Commission (2012) clarified that a competent patient can refuse life-sustaining treatment without legal consequences, and doctors acting according to the patient’s informed wishes are not guilty of abetment or culpable homicide.