Cuttack: The Odisha government has “unequivocally” decided to implement the Supreme Court verdict on Advance Medical Directives, widely known as Living Wills. The state government made this submission before the Orissa high court on Tuesday during the hearing of a PIL alleging delay in execution of the apex court’s order dated January 24, 2023.
Significantly, the Supreme Court in its judgement recognised the right to die with dignity as part of Article 21 of the Constitution. Its directions aimed at ensuring uniform implementation of Living Wills across the country. Registrars-general of all High Courts were directed to circulate the order to state health secretaries for onward communication to chief district medical officers in their respective states.
The State’s assurance was conveyed in the form of a written communication placed before the HC by additional government advocate Debashis Tripathy on the basis of instructions received from the additional secretary of the health and family welfare department.
“The state government has unequivocally decided to implement the judgment of the Supreme Court for which the committee has to review the draft resolution once again very shortly for finalisation of the same,” the commu
nication was quoted by TOI as stating.
The communication noted that the implementation process was at an advanced stage. “The finalisation of the draft resolution is currently under active consideration. Inputs from various departments including the law department and general administration department are required for finalisation. After receiving the requisite views, the draft resolution will be placed before the government for approval,” the communication reportedly stated.
Taking the submission on record, division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman adjourned the matter for further hearing on January 13.
The PIL was filed on August 20, 2025, by High Court lawyer Kanhayalal Sharma, seeking directions to the state authorities to enforce the Supreme Court’s mandate on Living Wills. Advocate Partha Mukherjee represented the petitioner.
The state government informed the court that a committee headed by special secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, Dr Bijay Kumar Mohapatra, and comprising nine other members, held meetings on April 25, 2024, and May 20, 2025, to examine modalities for implementation.
The committee opined that “the Advance Medical Directives will primarily be implemented in the medical colleges, super specialty hospitals, and the district headquarters hospitals having ICU facilities for treatment of terminally ill patients.”
The government communication further stated that the draft resolution incorporating the recommendations of the committee was circulated among the committee members in the meeting held on October 8 for re-examination and final concurrence.