ARUNA RAMCHANDRA SHANBAUG VS. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

Euthanasia is one of the prominent issues that has been discussed in modern times, and the courts and the Legislatures all over the world are facing. In the present case, the court felt like a ship in an uncharted sea. Further seeking guidance from the light on the legislation and judicial principles laid by the foreign courts. The present petition involved prominent issues related to the fundamental right of an individual, related to the relation between the right to live and the right to die with dignity. Euthanasia is of two types: Active and Passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia involves the use of lethal substances, such as sodium pentothal, which causes a person to fall into a deep sleep in a few seconds, leading the person to die instantaneously and painlessly in deep sleep, e.g. a lethal injection given to a person with terminal cancer who is in terrible pain. On the other hand, passive euthanasia involves withholding medical treatment without which the patient is likely to die or removing the vital machines on which the patient is dependent for their survival.