2026 INSC 222 REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA EXTRA-ORDINARY APPELLATE JURISDICTION MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 2238 OF 2025 IN SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 18225 OF 2024 HARISH RANA …APPLICANT VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. …RESPONDENTS

J U D G M E N T

CHANDRESH Date: 2026.03.11 Reason:

J.B. PARDIWALA, J.:

For the convenience of exposition, this judgment is divided into the following parts:

INDEX ..................................................................

(A). FACTUAL MATRIX 6 ....................

(B). SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE APPLICANT 15 .............

(C). SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE UNION OF INDIA 21 (D). CORE CONCEPTS UNDERLYING THE DECISION IN COMMON .........................................................................

CAUSE 2018 24 I. The Essential Distinction: Active and Passive Euthanasia . 27 II. Permissibility of Passive Euthanasia under Article 21 of the Constitution of India .......................................................................... 38 (a) The unifying and omnipresent force of ‘dignity’ in the discourse on ‘right to die with dignity’ ........................................... 39 (b) Viewing the “right to die with dignity” through