Supreme Court Upholds Right to Die with Dignity

Abhijat Jain was a 45-year-old Indian who suffered from a terminal brain tumour. In a landmark decision in May 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in his favour, permitting passive euthanasia, also known as the 'living will'. This right to die with dignity is essentially Section 84 in action, albeit the concept here is more aligned to the concept of 'Mental Capacity' which is part of the broader legal framework of 'Mental Incapacity'. This concept is well-covered in the General Studies paper of the CLAT PG and AILET PG exams. The Supreme Court's ruling relied heavily on the test of mental capacity as stated in the landmark case 'Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug (Dead) vs. Union of India' (2011), which was a significant development in the jurisprudence of mental incapacity.