New Delhi:
A five-judge Constitution bench will decide whether a "living will" or voluntary euthanasia can be allowed if a person is terminally ill or may go into a vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
"This is an important question involving legal and medical issues. For the benefit of humanity, we refer this to a Constitution bench," a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, P Sathasivam, said today.
The court acted on a petition filed by the NGO Common Cause, which argued that a person should be allowed to die with dignity.
"Right to die with dignity is also a part of the right to liberty," said Kamal Jaiswal of Common Cause, which filed a writ petition asking for a law on the lines of the Patient Autonomy and Self-determination Act of the US, which allows living wills.
The Centre had opposed it saying it will have serious repercussions, and a decision on withdrawing someone's life support system should be by a panel of doctors, not the patient.
"A doctor's duty is to preserve life, not take it," the government had said, adding that such a policy should be decided by the executive, not the judiciary.