India, March 12 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday urged the Union government to consider enacting a comprehensive law governing end-of-life care, describing the absence of a statutory framework on the subject a serious legislative gap that has repeatedly compelled the judiciary to step in.

In its judgment allowing passive euthanasia for 32-year-old Harish Rana who has remained in a permanent vegetative state for more than a decade, the court said that the prolonged absence of legislation regulating end-of-life medical decisions has forced the judiciary to frame guidelines from time to time to safeguard the constitutional right to live and die with dignity.

Writing the judgment, Justice JB Pardiwala said the guidelines laid down by the c...