India, March 12 -- The family of the 32-year-old Ghaziabad man who has been comatose for more than 12 years, in their plea to the Supreme Court, had said that allowing withdrawal of artificial life support will restore his dignity after years of irreversible suffering.

The top court allowed passive euthanasia for Harish Rana, who has been in a permanent vegetative state since 2013 after suffering severe head injuries from a fall from the fourth floor of his paying guest accommodation on August 20 that year.

Shortly after the Supreme Court pronounced its judgment, a crowd - consisting mainly of journalists and television cameramen - gathered outside the Brahm Raj Empire society in Ghaziabad, where the family currently resides.

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