New Delhi. Four years after its landmark judgment on passive euthanasia, the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to amend its 2018 guidelines on ‘living will’. The court said that it is up to the legislature to enact a law for terminally ill patients who decide to discontinue treatment. ‘Living Will’ refers to the request of the patient in which he chooses to discontinue his treatment.
Despite the court order, people desirous of registering ‘Living Will’ are facing difficulties due to complex guidelines. The Supreme Court said that the legislature has more skill and sources of information to make relevant laws. The Court said that it would confine itself to improving its guidelines on ‘Living Will’.
The bench of 5 judges said a big thing
Justice K. A five-judge bench headed by Justice M. Joseph said that there can be only minor modifications in the guidelines, otherwise it would be like reviewing its own decision of 2018. It was also said that the further direction can be applicable only in a limited area, where the patients suffering from terminal disease are so sick that they are not even in a position to tell that the treatment should be stopped.
Understand the limitations of the court as well: Bench
Justice Ajay Rastogi, Justice Aniruddha Bose, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice CT Ravikumar were also included in this bench. The bench said, “We are here only to consider the modification of the guidelines. We should also understand the limitations of the court. The judgment clearly states that till a law is made by the legislature, the legislature has a lot of skill, talents and sources of knowledge. We are not experts in medical science. We have to be careful in this.
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Tags: new delhi news, supreme court
FIRST PUBLISHED : January 18, 2023, 00:24 IST
