Cuttack: Voicing concern over the delay in implementation of Supreme Court’s direction on living will, the Orissa High Court has asked the state the state government to convey its final decision on the matter by February 3.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman made the observation while hearing a PIL seeking enforcement of the direction issued by the Supreme Court on January 24, 2023.
Additional government advocate Debasish Tripathy informed the court that suggestions from the departments concerned had already been obtained and the matter was under active consideration of a high-level committee.
Asking the state government to act with urgency on the issue, the HC said no further apathy should be shown as considerable progress has been made in this regard. The matter has been listed on February 3, and the state government has been directed to inform whether a final decision has been taken, TNIE reported.
It may be noted that a living will is a legal document that allows adult individuals to specify the medical care they would prefer to receive if they are affected by conditions or diseases which render them incapable of making the decisions then or communicating their decision
to their kin.
For example, they can inscribe their refusal to interventions like mechanical ventilation, invasive tubes, feeding tubes, and artificial nutrition, when they are in terminal or vegetative stage.
The PIL, filed by High court lawyer Kanhayalal Sharma, seeks directions to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s mandate on living wills, also known as Advance Medical Directives. Advocate Partha Mukherjee represented the petitioner.
The case assumes significance in light of the Supreme Court’s recognition of the right to die with dignity as a fundamental right and its directions to ensure uniform implementation of living wills across the country. The apex court had directed registrar generals of all high courts to circulate its order to state health secretaries for onward communication to chief district medical officers.
The state government had informed the HC on December 16 that a draft resolution had been circulated to various departments, including the Law and General Administration and Public Grievance departments, for their views. Besides, a committee headed by special secretary (medical services), Health and Family Welfare department comprising nine other members had examined modalities for implementation. The committee had opined that Advance Medical Directives would initially be implemented in medical colleges, super specialty hospitals and district headquarters hospitals with ICU facilities for terminally-ill patients.
The government had also informed the High Court that it had decided to implement the SC judgment and the draft resolution would be reviewed once again shortly for finalisation.