Supreme Court agrees to hear plea on ‘passive euthanasia’ for rabies patients
NGO All Creatures Great and Small challenged a 2019 Delhi HC order, seeking to treat rabies as an exceptional disease and offer patients “death with dignity.”
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea in two weeks seeking passive euthanasia for rabies patients, challenging a 2019 Delhi high court ruling that denied the request to treat rabies as an exceptional disease and allow patients the option of “death with dignity.”
The matter was presented before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran. NGO All Creatures Great and Small approached the Supreme Court, challenging a July 2019 Delhi High Court order that had denied the request to direct the Centre and other authorities to treat rabies as an exceptional disease and offer patients the option of “death with dignity.”
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and other parties in January 2020, seeking their responses to the 2019 petition.
However, on Monday, the petitioner's counsel informed the court that the Centre had filed a counter affidavit in the matter before the Delhi High Court in 2018.
“We will have it after two weeks on a non-miscellaneous day,” said the bench.
The NGO's plea calls for a procedure to be established for rabies patients, allowing them or their guardians to opt for physician-assisted passive euthanasia.
In a landmark ruling on March 9, 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court recognised the right to die as part of the right to life, legalising passive euthanasia and permitting the creation of a “living will” for terminally ill patients or those in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery, ensuring a dignified exit by refusing medical treatment or life support.
The NGO, represented by senior advocate Sonia Mathur and advocate Noor Rampal, requested the Supreme Court to carve out an exception for rabies patients in its earlier judgement.
The plea argued that rabies, with its 100 per cent fatality rate, could be far more torturous and harrowing to endure than other ailments.
“These unique symptoms of rabies make it an exceptional case where the patients have to be tied and shackled to their beds, reducing their personal freedom, movement, dignity and integrity,” it said.
The plea further urged the court to consider the “exceptional and violent nature of the disease” and the lack of a cure, classifying rabies as a separate category.
