October 26th 2023.
Even after nine months of a Supreme Court order to appoint a custodian to safeguard living wills and the right to die with dignity, the Brihanmumbai Mumbai Municipal has not taken a single step in the matter. This has caused great concern for those who have already taken the initiative to notarise their living will.
Renowned Gynaecologist Dr Nikhil Datar was the first person in the country to notarise his living will, on February 22. Following in his tracks, 15,000 doctors in India have come forward to do the same. He has taken the stance to create awareness and to encourage people to come forward and to notarise their living wills. However, due to the current lack of mechanism in place to safeguard the living wills, many people remain hesitant to notarise it.
The Supreme Court had legalised passive euthanasia and recognised the ‘right to die with dignity’ as an integral component of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. This resulted from the court saying that those who wanted, could make a living will and, in the absence of this, members of their family could make a plea before the high court to seek permission for passive euthanasia. To simplify the process of creating living wills, the apex court amended the existing guidelines in January this year.
Although an RTI application was filed in July, which was directed to the health department, there has been no response. Dr Datar further added that the civic body was obliged to nominate a competent authority as per the SC order, as these are important documents which should not get lost in other documents or files.
Nine months have passed since the Supreme Court order to appoint a custodian to safeguard living wills and the right to die with dignity. This has caused worry and confusion for many people, as there is no mechanism in place to safeguard the living wills. With the lack of response from the health department, it is uncertain when the process will be put into place. Until then, the people desirous of creating a living will will have to remain patient.
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