Harish Rana, the first Indian person to be allowed passive euthanasia, died at AIIMS Delhi, sources told news agency PTI on Tuesday.
On 11 March 2026, the Supreme Court allowed the withdrawal of medical care from 32-year-old Harish Rana, who had been in a vegetative state for the past 13 years with little hope of recovery.
Harish Rana’s father, Ashok Rana, told ANI, “We fought for it. What parent would want that for their son? We have been following this case for the last three years. He will be shifted to AIIMS. He used to be a topper in Panjab University.”
The case of Harish Rana
In its March 11 order, the Supreme Court directed AIIMS Delhi to admit Rana and provide all facilities for carrying out the life support system withdrawal exercise.
After the Supreme Court’s verdict, advocate Manish Jain said that under Article 21, the court granted Rana the right to euthanasia.
The lawyer informed ANI about the next course of action on March 11 that “within a week, he (Rana) will be shifted to AIIMS where all vital tubes will be removed, allowing him to die naturally without further medical intervention.”
Counsel believed that this decision was guided by the 2018 Common Cause Guidelines, which set out how individuals in a palliative state with total immobility should be treated.
“While passive euthanasia is more common globally, this decision marks a small but significant step in India,” he added, while informing that the Supreme Court had “directed all state chief medical officers to set up primary and secondary euthanasia councils and report regularly to their ministries”.
Reacting to the Supreme Court order, IMA President Anil Nayak told ANI, “…This decision has been taken on humanitarian grounds as the patient, Harish Rana, has been suffering and struggling with this physical disability for the last 13 years following a severe head injury…”
He said there should also be a policy in this regard for any future cases, “because such situations place both an economic and mental burden on the family…”
