Will Harish Rana, in coma for 13 years, get right to die? Supreme Court verdict today
India Today
Harish Rana's parents have sought passive euthanasia after years of medical care and failed legal attempts, making the case a crucial test of India's right-to-die jurisprudence.
For 13 years, life has stood still for Harish Rana. The Delhi resident has remained in a permanent vegetative state since a devastating fall in 2013, dependent on medical tubes for breathing and nutrition. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of India is set to decide whether Rana’s life-support treatment can be withdrawn – a ruling that could determine if he is allowed the right to die with dignity.
Rana’s parents, torn between hope and despair after years at his bedside, have approached the court seeking permission for passive euthanasia. The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan had reserved its verdict on January 15, 2026, after examining medical reports that said his chances of recovery were negligible. The judgment is scheduled to be delivered today.
If the court allows the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, Rana’s case could become the first known instance of court-approved passive euthanasia in India since the right to die with dignity was formally recognised by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The tragedy dates back to August 20, 2013, on the festival of Rakhi. Rana, then a civil engineering student at Chandigarh University, fell from the fourth-floor balcony of his paying guest accommodation, suffering severe head injuries that left him with 100% disability.
Doctors said he was unable to open his eyes or move his limbs after the accident. Since then, he has remained in a permanent vegetative state and has been under long-term treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
The prolonged medical care has taken a heavy toll on the family. Rana’s parents, who have two other children, sold their home in Delhi’s Mahavir Enclave and moved to Ghaziabad to cope with the mounting costs while remaining close to his hospital care.
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This moment comes days after the Supreme Court allowed Harish Rana to die with dignity – a historic first court-ordered case of passive euthanasia in India. The court acknowledged the medical opinion that Rana will never recover and that the tubes that feed him and keep him alive are only prolonging his pain.
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