Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v. Union of India
Background
Common Cause, a registered society, had filed this public-interest writ petition back in 2005 asking the Court to recognise a "right to die with dignity" as part of the right to life under Article 21, and to direct the government to put in place a legal framework for "living wills" / advance medical directives: documents by which a person can state in advance that they do not want to be kept alive by artificial life support if they later become terminally ill or permanently unconscious. A three-judge Bench referred the matter to this larger five-judge Constitution Bench in 2014 because of doubts about an earlier ruling (Aruna Shanbaug) that had allowed passive euthanasia only in narrow circumstances and without a clear framework for advance directives.
Decision Breakdown
The Constitution Bench unanimously held that the right to die with dignity is part of the right to live with dignity under Article 21, and that an adult of sound mind has the right to refuse medical treatment, including withdrawal of life support, as an exercise of bodily autonomy and self-determination. It held that passive euthanasia (withdrawing or withholding treatment that is merely prolonging the dying process) is legal, and, going further than Aruna Shanbaug, ruled that a mentally competent adult can execute an "advance medical directive" (living will) specifying in advance that no artificial life support should be given if they become terminally ill or are in a permanent vegetative state. Because Parliament had not yet legislated on the subject, the Court itself laid down a detailed procedural framework and safeguards (covering how a living will is to be executed, certified, and later acted upon by medical boards) to govern advance directives until a proper law is enacted, and expressed hope that the legislature would step in soon.
Lesson Learnt
Every adult in India now has a recognised legal right to refuse unwanted medical treatment, including life support, and can put this in writing in advance through a living will/advance medical directive: this is one of the most significant Indian judgments on personal autonomy and dignity in dying, giving ordinary citizens a concrete legal tool to control end-of-life medical care.