New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday said a will executed by a person can only be executed upon his or her death and not so long as he or she was alive even if in a vegetative state. “A will can’t be executed till one is living be it in a vegetative condition,” said a constitution bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice J. Chelameswar, Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.
The court observation came after finding itself unable to agree with counsel Prashant Bhushan’s plea for voluntary passive euthanasia in the case of a terminally ill person, who health was deteriorating and in medical opinion there was little hope of revival and recovery. The voluntary passive euthanasia being canvassed by NGO Common Cause involves withdrawal of life support system to a terminally ill person and stopping medication.
The constitution bench was hearing a Feb 25 reference by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam (since retired), Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh seeking a clear enunciation of law on voluntary passive euthanasia in the light of social, legal, medical and constitutional perspective for the benefit of humanity as a whole.
Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, urged the court to put in place a procedure under which a terminally ill person or whose health has deteriorated should be able to execute his will.
