NEW DELHI

India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the country’s first case of passive euthanasia - withdrawal of artificial life support - for a 32-year-old man who had remained in a permanent vegetative state for more than 12 years.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was hearing a petition filed by the father of the patient, Harish Rana, seeking permission to withdraw life-sustaining treatment for his son. The family said Rana was being kept artificially alive.

Rana, a resident of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, suffered severe head injuries after falling from a building in 2013.

On Wednesday, the bench permitted the withdrawal of his artificial life support.

“The patient’s next of kin and the medical boards have reached the opinion that CAN (clinically administered nutrition) administration should be discontinued,” the Press Trust of India quoted the bench as saying.

In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that life support may be withdrawn for patients who are terminally ill or in incurable comas, recognizing passive euthanasia and affirming that a person has the right to die with dignity.