Harish Rana, the first person in India to be granted permission for passive euthanasia by the Supreme Court, died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi Tuesday.
“Mr Harish Rana passed away at 4.10 pm on 24th March 2026 at AIIMS, New Delhi. He was under the care of a dedicated team of doctors and was admitted to the Palliative Oncology Unit (IRCH) led by Dr (Prof) Seema Mishra, HoD, Onco-Anaesthesia. AIIMS extends its heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time,” the media cell of AIIMS said in an official statement.
Harish, 31, had been in a coma since 2013, when he fell from a fourth-floor balcony in Chandigarh while he was aBTech student. For years, he remained in a permanent vegetative state, sustained by artificial nutrition through a feeding tube and, at times, oxygen support.
He was moved from his home in Ghaziabad to the palliative care unit at Dr B R Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS on March 14. Three days earlier, on March 11, the Supreme Court had allowed the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in his case.
Sources close to the Rana family told The Indian Express that the cremation will be held on Wednesday.
For more than a decade, the Rana family’s days revolved around a single room in their home. There, Harish lay still, the only signs of life an occasional cough and the slow rise and fall of his chest. His care was constant and exacting: feeding through a gastrostomy tube four times a day, dressing bedsores, physiotherapy sessions, and carefully turning his body to prevent further injury.
“It’s not 13 days or months… it’s been 13 years that we have done this,” Ashok Rana, his father, told The Indian Express earlier this month.
“Their (the Rana family) struggle has been both full of gratitude and deep care… they always believed something good would happen, that God would do good… they did everything for Harish, from hospital visits to day-to-day care. They managed everything with full dedication and did everything for their son wholeheartedly,” Advocate Manish Jain, who represented the family in the Supreme Court, told The Indian Express on Tuesday.
“They never presented themselves as poor or helpless in front of anyone. They never said ‘we are poor’ or sought sympathy; they were very clear that their duty was to serve their child. They never accepted any donations or contributions,” he said.
On the Supreme Court’s decision, Jain said: “This case will remain a precedent in the future… There are many such patients across the country.”
In the early years after the accident, the family moved Harish across hospitals in Delhi, searching for treatment and hope. Later, at home, his mother, Nirmala, became a near-constant presence by his bedside, monitoring his condition through the day.
The years took a financial toll. The family spent lakhs on medical care and equipment. After retiring from a catering firm, Ashok began selling sandwiches and burgers at a local cricket ground on weekends to help sustain the household.
The Supreme Court’s order in Harish’s case marked the first time it permitted the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment for a patient in a permanent vegetative state.
The judgment built on the court’s 2018 ruling in Common Cause v. Union of India, which had recognised passive euthanasia and laid down guidelines for withdrawing life support. In Harish’s case, the court expanded those principles, extending them to patients receiving care at home, easing procedural requirements, and reducing the need for court intervention.
Crucially, the court drew a clear distinction between passive and active euthanasia.
Active euthanasia, the administration of a lethal injection, remains illegal in India. Passive euthanasia, by contrast, involves withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, allowing death to occur naturally, accompanied by palliative care.
In Harish’s case, this meant the withdrawal of nutrition provided through a PEG tube, with continued comfort care as his body declined.
Before the accident, Harish was a civil engineering student who loved football, video games and weightlifting competitions. After it, his world narrowed to a bed. For years, legal arguments unfolded alongside this daily reality.
In 2024, the Delhi High Court rejected the family’s plea to withdraw medical support. Later, the Supreme Court initially declined relief but allowed the family to return if circumstances warranted. They did.
“We approached the court once we recognised that our son’s condition was irreversible and incurable,” Ashok said after the verdict. “We are grateful for the humane directions laid down by the Supreme Court.”
After the judgment, Harish was moved to AIIMS, where, under medical supervision, life-sustaining support was withdrawn, and palliative care continued.
On Tuesday, that process came to an end.
The decision came on a plea by Harish Rana’s family, seeking permission to withdraw his medical facilities in terms of the SC’s 2018 five-judge Bench ruling recognising the legality of "passive euthanasia" for terminally-ill patients. (Source: Express Photo) 
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