Report No. 241

10. Whether legislation necessary?

10.1 The path breaking judgment in Aruna Ramachandra and the directives given therein has become the law of the land. The Law Commission of India too made a fervent plea for legal recognition to be given to passive euthanasia subject to certain safeguards. The crucial and serious question now is, should we recommend to the Government to tread a different path and neutralize the effect of the decision in Aruna's case and to suggest a course contrary to the law and practices in most of the countries of the world?

As we said earlier, there is no compelling reasons for this Law Commission to do so. Our earnest effort at the present juncture, is only to reinforce the reasoning adopted by the Supreme Court and the previous Law Commission. On taking stock of the pros and cons, this Commission would like to restate the propriety and of legality of passive euthanasia rather than putting the clock back in the medico-legal history of this country.