If Article 21 confers on a person the right to live a dignified life, does it also include a right not to live ? Examine the Constitutional Provisions with the help of decided case laws.
Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life with dignity, and judicial interpretation has addressed whether this extends to a right to die. In P. Rathinam v. Union of India (1994), the Supreme Court held that the right to life implied freedom to end one’s life, thereby recognizing a right to die. However, this position was overturned in Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab (1996), where the Court ruled that Article 21 does not include the right to die, emphasizing the distinction between living with dignity and extinguishing life.
A significant shift occurred in Common Cause v. Union of India (2018), where the Court upheld the right to die with dignity through passive euthanasia for terminally ill patients under strict safeguards. The decision drew a line between suicide, which remains unlawful, and dignified death in medical contexts, thereby harmonizing Article 21 with evolving human rights concerns.
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