Whether Right to die is a fundamental right under Article 21 of Constitution of India? Discuss with case law.

Question: Whether Right to die is a fundamental right under Article 21 of Constitution of India? Discuss with case law. [MPJS 2021]

Find the answer to the mains question of Constitutional Law only on Legal Bites. [Whether Right to die is a fundamental right under Article 21 of Constitution of India? Discuss with case law.]

Answer

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the "right to life and personal liberty," stating that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. The scope of Article 21 has been interpreted expansively to include various rights related to life, but the "right to die" has been a matter of legal debate.

Below are the key case laws that have shaped the interpretation of the right to die under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution:

Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab (1996): The Supreme Court held that the "right to life" under Article 21 does not include the "right to die" or the "right to be killed." In this case, the court overruled its earlier decision in P. Rathinam v. Union of India (1994), which had observed that the right to life also included the right to die. The court emphasized that Article 21 is meant to protect life and that the extension of the right to life to the right to die is logically inconsistent with this purpose.

Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug v. Union of India (2011): In this landmark case, the Supreme Court allowed passive euthanasia under certain strict conditions, recognizing that the right to life includes the right to die with dignity in cases of terminal illness or permanent vegetative state. However, it upheld that active euthanasia (deliberate intervention to cause death) is not permissible.

In the Common Cause v. Union of India (2018) case, the Supreme Court affirmed that the right to die with dignity is an extension of the right to life under Article 21, particularly in the context of terminally ill patients or those in a permanent vegetative state. The court allowed passive euthanasia and recognized "living wills" as valid, permitting individuals to outline their medical treatment preferences in case of incapacitation.

The right to die is not an absolute fundamental right under Article 21, but the right to die with dignity, particularly in cases involving passive euthanasia, is now recognized as part of the broader right to life.