Imagine a father standing before the country’s highest court, not asking for justice, not asking for compensation, but asking for permission for his son to die. That is the story that has gripped the nation. For over a decade, Harish Rana has existed in a space between life and death. He is breathing, but unaware, alive, but unable to speak, respond or recognise the world around him. Now, after 13 years of silence, the Supreme Court of India has allowed his family to withdraw life-sustaining treatment, setting the stage for what doctors describe as a 'natural death'. The case has reopened difficult questions around love, suffering, dignity, and the right to die.

Before he became the centre of a landmark legal battle, Harish Rana was simply a young student with a promising future. A native of Ghaziabad, Harish was studying B.Tech at Panjab University in 2013. Friends and family remember him as energetic and athletic, someone who loved football and spent hours at the gym. But on August 20, 2013, everything changed.

Harish fell from the fourth floor of his paying-guest accommodation. The fall caused a severe brain injury known as diffuse axonal injury, one of the most devastating forms of traumatic brain damage. He was rushed first to a local hospital and then shifted within hours to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh because of the seriousness of his condition. The injury pushed him into a coma and he has never woken up since.

For the last 13 years, Harish Rana has lived in what doctors describe as a vegetative state. His eyes sometimes appear open, he has sleep-wake cycles and can sleep through the night but there is no awareness. Medical reports say he shows no response to sound, touch, verbal communication or pain. He cannot breathe fully on his own and has relied on a tracheostomy tube for respiration. A feeding tube inserted into his stomach has kept him alive by delivering liquid nutrition. His body has survived but his mind never returned. The years have brought repeated medical complications: seizures, pneumonia, infections and painful bedsores that often require hospitalisation.

Supreme Court Allows Life Support Withdrawal in Vegetative Case (Pics: Rana Family/BBC)

Much of his treatment has been carried out at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. But the most constant presence in those years was not the hospital staff, it was his parents. For over a decade, Harish’s mother has been his primary caregiver. Day after day, year after year, she cleaned him, fed him through tubes, repositioned his body to prevent bedsores and monitored every small medical need. His father, Ashok Rana, often watched silently as time passed with no sign of improvement. Their son, once full of life, lay motionless.

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The turning point came not from doctors, but from his mother. About four years ago, she asked her husband a question that many parents would struggle even to think about. Could they write to the President or the Prime Minister and ask for permission to let their son go? At the time, Ashok Rana believed it was impossible but the thought never left them.

The Ranas eventually decided to approach the courts seeking passive euthanasia, the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment when there is no hope of recovery. The case travelled through the legal system and eventually reached the Supreme Court of India. The family also received help from the spiritual organisation Brahma Kumaris, which helped them connect with a lawyer and begin the legal process. For three years, the case moved through hearings, medical reviews and ethical debates.

Medical boards examined Harish’s condition and reached the same conclusion: there was no possibility of neurological recovery and continued treatment only prolonged biological existence.

Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now