Right to Life with Dignity also includes Right to Die with Dignity: - Time To Amend Article 21 of Indian Constitution and Law of Euthenesia

Authors(1) :-Pyali Chatterjee

Article 21 of Indian Constitution grants Right to life only. According to Article 21 says, “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure establishedby law”. Right life under Article 21 does not include Right to die. Right to life is a natural right. The question regarding Right to die first time comes before Bombay High Court in State of Maharashtra v. Maruty Sripati Dubal, 1987 Cri LJ 743. And here in this case court declared that Right to Life includes Right to die, thus making Section 309 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 which makes attempt to suicide as punishable offence unconstitutional. But Supreme Court in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab (1996)2 SCC 648, held that Right to life does not include “Right to die” or “Right to be killed”. Right to life is a natural right and right to die is not a natural right and no one has a right to finish their life in unnatural way.  It was only after the case of Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug versus Union of India (2011) 4 SCC 454, Supreme Court in its judgment declared that Passive Euthanasia is legal in India.

Here my question is whether Right to life with dignity includes Right to life with dignity. If the answer is Yes then why a cancer patients who were already in their last stage has to suffer lots till their death. In such cases active euthanasia is the only option, getting relief from the pain of cancer. A person who is already bedridden and is dependent on other for each and everything in that case how can we say that he is living with his dignity?  In cancer ( last stage), most of the patients died in pathetic conditions, where neither they can bear the pain of the diseases nor their family can watch their loved one in such an intolerable pain for such a long time. In such cases death with dignity is last option for the family members as well as for the patients to finally get relived from the ultimate pain. There is a need of Active Euthanasia for such patients.

Lastly, judgment of Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug versus Union of India should be reviewed once again and medical committee should be formed to find out the cases where active euthanasia will be the ultimate option for the patients to die with dignity and without tolerant any pain.

Authors and Affiliations

Pyali Chatterjee
Disha Law College Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India

Euthanasia, Physician assisted Suicide, Mercy killing, Right to die, Cancer

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Publication Details

Published in : Volume 1 | Issue 5 | November-December 2015
Date of Publication : 2015-12-25
License:  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Page(s) : 119-123
Manuscript Number : IJSRST151528
Publisher : Technoscience Academy

Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X

Cite This Article :

Pyali Chatterjee, " Right to Life with Dignity also includes Right to Die with Dignity: - Time To Amend Article 21 of Indian Constitution and Law of Euthenesia", International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology(IJSRST), Print ISSN : 2395-6011, Online ISSN : 2395-602X, Volume 1, Issue 5, pp.119-123, November-December-2015.
Journal URL : https://ijsrst.com/IJSRST151528
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