AIIMS Delhi starts Harish Rana's passive euthanasia process

March 17, 2026

Following Supreme Court approval, AIIMS Delhi has begun the passive euthanasia process for Harish Rana. A medical team is gradually withdrawing life support systems, a procedure expected to take two to three weeks. Experts are ensuring the patient experiences no pain.

Harish Rana's passive euthanasia begins at AIIMS Delhi with gradual life support withdrawal Harish Rana, in a coma for 13 years after a head injury from falling off a fourth-floor balcony while studying BTech at Punjab University in 2013, received Supreme Court approval for euthanasia on March 11, 2026. The court clarified this is not active euthanasia but the gradual withdrawal of artificial nutrition and life-sustaining measures to allow natural death. Harish was brought from Ghaziabad and admitted to the Palliative Care Unit at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital within AIIMS Delhi. The process is led by Prof. Dr. Seema Mishra from the Anesthesia and Palliative Medicine Department. The team includes specialists from neurosurgery, onco-anesthesia, palliative medicine, and psychiatry. According to doctors, the procedure starts with assessing the patient's condition, then reducing artificial nutrition while providing pain-relieving drugs and palliative sedation. Sources linked to AIIMS estimate it will take two to three weeks, with continuous monitoring. Former head Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar stated the goal is to prevent any suffering. Harish's father, Ashok Rana, described the decision as extremely difficult but in his son's interest. The family has received spiritual support, including from Brahmakumari sister Lovely. The Supreme Court directed that the process be conducted with utmost care and dignity.

ምንጮች

• https://www.aajtak.in/uttar-pradesh/story/harish-rana-latest-update-aiims-delhi-doctor-told-how-many-days-it-takes-to-die-by-euthanasia-lclg-dskc-2498648-2026-03-17
• https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/beginning-and-end-on-the-right-to-die-with-dignity/article70750345.ece