The Right to Die is a concept which is based on the opinion that human being are entitled to end their life or to voluntary end up theirs life if they are going under a critical medical circumstances in which there is no ray of hope is being neither given by the doctor neither the patient sees from his past medical records. Then the question of right to kill arises in which the patient ask the Government that he his willingly want to end up his/her life.
Then in this case the question arises that if the patient is allowed to do so or not anyone, should be empowered to make this decision is often a topic of discussion.
Perhaps mercy killing is a death which basically allowed under the medical surveillance.
The biggest question arises that –
How can it be a right if you are using it to give up your rights?
The term “euthanasia” is itself shrouded in ambiguity. As the word is derived from the Greek word “euthanatos” meaning “good death”.
Mercy killing is just about giving the permission to any individual to end up his / her life with his /her free will.
There have been views propagating the practice of passive euthanasia (letting someone die) to be morally permissible and active euthanasia (killing someone), morally impermissible. The approval to take one’s own life is neither morally nor ethically correct.
THE PERSPECTIVE ABOUT MERCY KILLING IN INDIA
In India, the sanctity of life has been placed on the highest pedestal which means in the law of India the importance of life is kept at the top even in the law there is a famous quote which says we can leave many culprits but cannot take the life of any innocent.
In the case of Gian Kaur vs. State of Punjab, a five judges Bench held that the “right to life” is inherently inconsistent with the “right to die” as is “death” with “life”. In progression of the above, the constitutionality of Section 309 of the I.P.C, which is an “attempt to suicide”.
The factors must be considered as suicide, euthanasia or mercy killing and the like amount to unnatural abetting of life. It would be inviting Section 306 of the I.P.C.
The above factor states that any form that involves unnatural termination of life, whether an attempt to suicide, abetment to suicide/assisted suicide or euthanasia, is illegal. The fact that even an attempt to suicide is punishable under the eyes of law according to the Indian law.
Although, there has been no legislation pertaining to euthanasia in India, the term keeps on coming back for public approval like an unsolved question mark.
THE GROWTH OF MEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
On the other side of the coin, if we talk about the medical science and researched in our country or across the world the whole world and our country has now so much developed in the field of medical science many incurable diseases like cancer tuberculosis tumor etc. which were earlier a question mark to our medical science are now being cured and have the medical treatment as well.
Research has shown that the pain of any human being can be controlled by medical methods these days 8 out of 10 cases of severe pain in human can be solved by latest medical technology with the high pace of increased improvement in medical science and research. It shows that medical science is very progressive and is having a great growth due to which the cure ratio is increasing as a result of which the death age which is earlier was near about 65-75 now a days due to development in medical science it has boost up to 75-85 or even 90-95 in some cases which is a great breakthrough in the field of medical science. If we legalized euthanasia, doctors would be forced to perform such acts against their consent that would amount to a violation of the Hippocratic Oath.
As doctor has the responsibility to try their best to cure the patient and to make him curable and if they achieve the best result it would be an achievement in the field of Medical Science but if the Mercy Killing is allowed then it would be a question mark on the capacity and intelligence of the Doctor.
Even the doctors have refused that the Oath does not allow them and their staff to do so it is neither morally correct neither ethically neither religiously.
Medical Science have developed in the past few decades to serve the mankind and not to do these kind of things which impose once to end his/her life, as if they say that the life is the creation of God and one cannot do it by quoting this as a Suicide and which is a crime under the law of India.
THE FINAL JUDGEMENT
On March 9, 2018, The Hon’ble Supreme Court (SC) gave a landmark judgment and declared the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and passed an order allowing End of Life Care (EOLC), as passive euthanasia in common parlance, in our country. The decision was made as part of the verdict in a case involving Aruna Shanbaug, until her death in 2015.
Justice D Y Chandrachud, a member of the five-judge bench of the apex court of our country headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said, “Life and death are inseparable. Every moment our bodies undergo change… life is not disconnected from death. Dying is a part of the process of living.”
Finally, the euthanasia is approved by the Hon’ble but one cannot always use this as a tool and is not just a cup of tea for every person who is suffering from diseases there are many factors which have to be fulfilled after that you could.
Author(s) Name: Mayank Srivastava (Shia P.G. College, University of Lucknow)
