New Delhi, March 11 -- In a landmark judgement reaffirming a patient's right to die with dignity, the Supreme Court on Wednesday, for the first time ever, allowed for a 31-year-old man who has been in a vegetative state to undergo passive euthanasia in order to ensure that the best interest of the patient and to give him the right to die with dignity.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan reasoned that the as per various medical reports, further administration of CAN (Clinically Assisted Nutrition) will not be in the best interest of the patient.

The applicant, Harish Rana has been in a vegetative state since the last thirteen years after an accidental fall from a building in 2013. Passive euthanasia is the practice of wi...