SC allows passive euthanasia: Living will explained; top 10 developments

Right to die with dignity is a fundamental right, the Supreme Court on Friday held and said that an individual could make an advance "living will" that would authorise passive euthanasia under certain circumstances. The apex court's Bench held that passive euthanasia and living will were legally valid.
The apex court said that a person could prepare a "living will", under which the withdrawal of life-support system could be authorised if he reached an irreversible stage of terminal illness in the medical view.

However, while a five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, allowed an individual to prepare the advance directive, or living will, it attached strict conditions for executing the "will", which would be made by a person in his or her normal state of health and mind.

The apex court was delivering its verdict on a public interest litigation filed in 2005 by an NGO called Common Cause and argued by lawyer Prashant Bhushan.