India, March 11 -- In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, a 32-year-old man who has remained in a permanent vegetative state for over 13 years following a fall from a building.

The bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan permitted the withdrawal of artificial life support, citing medical reports that showed Rana had suffered severe brain injury in 2013 when he fell from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation, and had been in an irreversible vegetative state ever since, surviving only through clinically administered nutrition provided via feeding tubes.

The court said Medical boards concluded that continuing treatment merely prolonged biological existence w...