Top India court allows passive euthanasia

India's Supreme Court has ruled to allow passive euthanasia in a landmark decision, saying people have a right to die with dignity.

Funeral of Aruna Shanbaug in 2015, who was in a vegetative state for decades after being raped and was the recently the subject of the euthanasia debate. Source: AAP

India's Supreme Court has allowed passive euthanasia, ruling individuals have a right to die with dignity in a key verdict that sets out guidelines under which it can be permitted.

The court ruled on Friday that individuals were allowed to draft a "living will" that authorised the withdrawal of life support if they reached an irreversible or terminal stage of illness.

Guidelines issued by the five-judge bench will be in place until the federal government enacts a law on mercy killing or passive euthanasia.

"The Supreme Court has delivered an important and historic decision," said lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who moved the petition on behalf of non-profit organisation Common Cause.

The group sought legal recognition for the "living will", saying the government was opposed to the concept and had not included it in its draft laws on passive euthanasia.

In 2011, the Supreme Court rejected a petition for a mercy killing but ruled that passive euthanasia was allowed in some cases.

Passive euthanasia involves stopping medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten the death of a terminally ill patient.

Active euthanasia, in which death is brought about by an act such administering a lethal injection, remains illegal in India.